


One Touch

by SyrinxSilenus



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 33,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28627161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyrinxSilenus/pseuds/SyrinxSilenus
Summary: Who would've thought that one fateful encounter with Karupin would lead Sakuno closer to the prince that she'd admire for so long? One-touch. Just a simple accidental bumping of lips started it all, and there was no turning back now.
Relationships: Echizen Ryouma/Ryuuzaki Sakuno
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. One: Karupin

_**One Touch** _

**DISCLAIMER:** I DON'T OWN ANYTHING ASIDE FROM THE EXTRA OCs. Prince of Tennis is created by Takeshi Konomi.

 **Summary:** Who would've thought that one fateful encounter with Karupin would lead Sakuno closer to the prince she had admired for so long? One touch. Just a simple, accidental bumping of lips started it all, and there was no turning back now.

**Main Pairing: Echizen Ryoma x Ryuzaki Sakuno**

**Side pairings: Momoshiro Takeshi x Tachibana An, Kaido Kaoru x Osakada Tomoka** (probably only mentioned)

**RATED M**

* * *

**~One~**

**Karupin**

If someone had told Sakuno that she would one day become close and intimate with her long-time crush, the Prince of Tennis, Echizen Ryoma, she would've looked at you funny as if you'd just blurted out the most absurd joke that she had ever heard in her life. Fortunately for the fifteen-year-old girl, the powers above had other plans for her that would spin, smash, slam, and roll her life for better or for worse, and she didn't have a say in any of it.

* * *

It was a fine Sunday when her grandmother, Sumire, sent her to the nearest grocery store to buy ingredients for their dinner that night.

It was already late morning, the sun was at its peak and the bright blue sky was clear and refreshing, indicating good weather for the rest of the day; or so Sakuno hoped.

The wind blew calmly past her, making her bangs dance in tandem with the cold breeze. Sakuno closed her eyes as she exhaled, enjoying the calm scenery as she strolled past the many houses in their neighborhood. She stared at the sky as birds flew by and admired the verdant color of the trees around her. She watched in fascination as the birds sang and danced in the wind while courting their love interests, twirling around each other until they finally paired and flew away.

Sakuno giggled to herself before she shifted her attention back to the road, only to blink in bewilderment at the unfamiliar neighborhood in front of her. A sinking feeling started forming in the pit of her stomach as if she had been forced to drink one of Inui-senpa's newly produced Penal Tea.

She hung her head and sighed dejectedly. "Mou, I'm lost– _AGAIN!_ " she fisted her hands on her chest and shouted in frustration at the sky. "Why does this always happen to me!"

She really didn't get it. Why did she always end up lost no matter where she went? Was this some sort of a curse or something? How could she get lost on her way to the grocery store when she always walked the same path every time she went shopping?

Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Sakuno started observing her surroundings to look for any signs that would lead her to the right path, but she found nothing familiar. Panic bubbled in her chest as sweat started trickling down the side of her face.

"It's okay Sakuno, you can do this!" she mumbled, trying to encourage herself.

She whipped her head from side to side and decided to try and trace her steps back when a burst of boisterous laughter cut through her ravings.

"It looks like a big rat!"

"Voices…" she whispered under her breath. Then it was like a lightbulb had lit up at the top of her head and her eyes sparkled in renewed hope. "I could ask them for directions!" she happily exclaimed, clapping her hands in front of her once, then proceeded to follow the voices.

As the noise grew louder, she heard something else aside from the sound of laughter coming from three different people.

"Meowr!"

Sakuno stopped in her tracks and her brow furrowed, "That sounded like a… cat."

"Stop whining you rat!" the voice shouted, followed by a bout of cruel laughter from his companions. Sakuno's eyes widened when she finally registered the cruel undertone in their voices. The cries of the cat grew louder in her ears.

"Kick it harder! Hahaha!"

Gasping in horror as she realized what was happening, she sprinted towards the voices only to freeze at the sight that greeted her.

The cat was trying to stand up but ended up flat on the ground as another foot connected with its frail body. One of the kids kicked it so hard that the feline slammed into the wall and crumbled pathetically on the ground like a lifeless doll.

Sakuno turned red in anger and clenched her hands tight as she mustered her fiercest glare, "Hey, stop it right there!"

The three kids flinched and turned their heads towards her, only to visibly pale and hesitantly take a step back.

"Ah! Run!"

Sakuno opened her mouth to scold them but the children didn't let her. They immediately scurried away from the scene, leaving the poor cat sprawled helplessly on the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw the cat rise slowly, its right leg bent at an angle it wasn't supposed to. Gingerly it placed its paw onto the concrete only to pull it away, whimpering in pain. She frantically ran towards the cat, kneeling before it.

"Oh no, you poor thing." Sakuno didn't know how to touch the feline as she hovered her hands above its struggling body.

"Meowr," the cat cried, staring at her straight in the eyes as if afraid that she would hurt him too.

Something pricked in her chest and Sakuno gingerly picked the cat up and wrapped it in her warm embrace. The cat, realizing that he was safe, nuzzled his face on her arms and Sakuno smiled warmly; only to morph into a worried frown when she looked closely at the injured leg of the cat. She grimaced as she slightly tightened her hold around the poor feline.

"I'm so sorry that they hurt you," she mumbled as tears pricked the side of her eyes.

"Meowr." The cat hung its head low as if surrendering to her completely, already losing the will to fight for itself.

"D-don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I-um, let's fix your leg," she said, smiling warmly before her head shot up as she remembered one important thing:

"I forgot that I'm lost!" She hung her head and pouted in frustration.

"Mou..." She sighed before she stood up and started running aimlessly with the cat secured in her arms as she looked for a vet clinic to treat the cat's injury. Her kind heart squeezed in pain as she remembered how helpless the animal looked as those cruel children kicked him.

Miraculously, as she ran blindly, she stumbled across an animal clinic and immediately went inside without a second thought. She hadn't even realized where she was, or that she was going to end up using the money for her grocery shopping to pay for the cat's treatment and she didn't even know whether someone owned it or if it was just a normal stray cat. She also didn't realize that the cat didn't look like any normal cat, all she knew was that she needed to help it.

Sakuno had always been a selfless person, worrying over others instead of herself. She knew she had a weak and soft spot for cats and other cute animals. Seeing other people being cruel to one pained her to no end. Panting as she entered the clinic, Sakuno locked eyes with the veterinarian, or at least she assumed he was as he was the only one there. Those few grueling seconds of startled staring took too long.

"Help, he's injured!" she urgently said.

That snapped the man out of his surprise and his eyes landed on the injured animal in her arms. He immediately approached her and gently took the cat from her to examine it.

"What happened, why is he injured?" the vet asked while checking the cat's leg.

Sakuno worriedly walked towards them with her hands grasped tightly on her chest. "I found it being kicked by a bunch of kids," she answered timidly.

The vet nodded as he proceeded to treat the cat's injury. "Hm, his leg is fractured. Good thing that it doesn't seem that serious, though he needs to rest for a couple of weeks until it heals," the man paused for a bit to look at her with a gentle, reassuring smile, "You can sit there while I finish this." He gestured his hand towards the sofa before he turned his eyes back towards the injured feline.

Sakuno let out a sigh of relief as she sat heavily on the sofa, "Thank goodness."

"Hm, this is a Himalayan cat and it's a male. You got a unique taste in cats," the vet commented offhandedly and Sakuno ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Umm, he's actually not mine. I-I just stumbled over him by chance," she whispered as her cheeks turned red.

The vet stopped what he was doing for a second to smile at her. "How kind of you. Not many people would do this kind of thing."

Sputtering indignantly, Sakuno waved her hands in denial. "N-no! I-I–"

The vet laughed at her reaction, "It's alright. I get it, but this is not just any normal cat. It's a very rare breed among the Persian cats so it probably has an owner."

"I-I'll just look for his owner later then," she mumbled under her breath, feeling a bit disappointed that she couldn't keep the cat for herself.

Sakuno ducked her head again and quietly waited for the treatment to be finished.

Minutes passed by before the vet gave her back the cat, instructing her how to clean and redo its cast and reminded her about the steroid pill to speed the cat's healing. She then repeatedly thanked the vet and paid for the pills, treatment, and examination without any second thoughts after the man finished giving her instructions. Saying one final thank you, Sakuno walked out of the clinic, sighing in relief before she remembered that she didn't have any more money to continue her grocery shopping.

"Mou, what am I going to tell grandma now?" She hung her head dejectedly as a cloud of depression hovered over her head.

"Meowr!"

Sakuno stared at the cat who was looking at her with his big blue doe eyes as if apologizing for the inconvenience he caused. Her heart melted.

"I-it's alright, I'm glad that you're fine. I can handle grandma's scolding." She smiled warmly as the cat nuzzled comfortably in her embrace. "Well, let's go find our way back home," she said as she started walking aimlessly. "Mou, where am I seriously?" She bit her lower lip as her eyes roamed around, looking for a familiar establishment.

"Karupin!"

Sakuno jerked her head in surprise as she heard a familiar voice. _'It couldn't be.'_

She blinked twice and scratched her ears before she pouted.

"I'm hearing Ryoma-kun's voice even now. I'm probably losing my mind," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head twice before she looked at the cat who perked up so suddenly in her arms.

"What is it?" she asked, even though she knew that she wouldn't get an answer.

"Karupin, where are you?!"

Sakuno perked up, her head whipping around to look for the owner of that familiar voice. "T-That's definitely Ryoma-kun's voice!" she exclaimed in delight and started running towards the direction of the voice.

"Karupin!"

There was the voice again.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" she called out, seeing someone appearing from one of the streets and running ahead of her. He abruptly stopped when she called his name again and turned towards her.

Intense gold eyes clashed with dark amber.

Sakuno couldn't help the smile that slowly formed on her lips as she confirmed her suspicion. But Ryoma only muttered "Karupin?" before dashing towards her, barely paying attention to the holder of said–

"Karupin?" Sakuno spoke aloud and belatedly realized who he was referring to. Forehead creasing, she looked down at the cat who was staring at the person in front of them with his blue eyes sparkling with recognition.

"Meowr."

"E-EEH!" she exclaimed in dawning realization before she looked up at him. Her face probably screamed her disbelief.

"You found Karupin!" he exclaimed and hurriedly extended his arms to grab the cat in her arms. Sakuno became suddenly alarmed when she remembered the cat's injury and she immediately dodged Ryoma's hands in reflex.

"Wait! Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma stopped mid grab and stared with startled eyes at her.

Sakuno blushed in embarrassment as her action registered through her muddled brain and she stuttered. "H-he's injured, be careful when you touch him," she explained before she gingerly placed the cat in Ryoma's waiting arms.

Something sparked in the boy's golden eyes when he noticed the bandage wrapped around his cat's leg and Sakuno was surprised at the intense look he sent her.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice laced with alarm as his hold tightened protectively around his cat.

Sakuno felt the blood rushing to her cheeks as she looked at the adorable worried expression on Ryoma's face. _'Ryoma-kun looks so young and cute when he's worried.'_ Seeing another kind of emotion besides his normally neutral expression was doing wonders in her already stuttering heart. It took her three seconds before his question finally registered.

"O-oh, Umm I a-accidentally stumbled across him when I heard laughing voices and saw three kids kicking him! So I-I just went to help," her voice turned softer in the end and she blushed harder when she noticed that Ryoma was staring at her so intensely that she could've melted then and there.

"But I didn't know that i-it's y-y-your cat, honest!" she defensively stated, waving her hands in front of her as she grew redder and redder by a second.

Ryoma didn't reply and just silently looked at her. Sakuno didn't know where she was going to look as she darted her eyes around and nervously fiddled with her fingers.

Ryoma finally averted his eyes from her and nodded as he patted his cat's head. "Thanks for taking care of Karupin, Ryuzaki," he said, a genuine look of gratitude visible over his face.

Sakuno's heart almost leaped out of her chest at the look that he sent her. _'You're going to kill me with your fierce eyes Ryoma-kun!'_

Still beet red, she waved a hand in front of her and she smiled at him. "N-no, it's nothing. I just couldn't leave him in that state so I–I looked for a vet clinic to treat him a-and umm, t-the vet said that it would take him a couple of weeks before he fully recovered, s-so you've got to take care of Karupin," her voice was frantic at the start of her sentence but it turned softer in the end as she fidgeted and fiddled with her skirt. "You don't have to worry, though. The vet told me that it wasn't so s-serious so–" she stopped rambling as she heard a sound coming from Ryoma and she looked up to see his reaction.

He was frowning at her. "Ryuzaki, how much did you spend on Karupin's treatment?"

Sakuno flinched at the boy's question and she ducked her head in embarrassment.

_'I-I can't let him know that I used the money for grocery shopping to treat Karupin's injury!'_

Panicked, she started awkwardly brushing it off. "I-I-It's alright! Don't worry about it Ryoma-kun!" she said, waving a hand in front of her as she nervously and awkwardly laughed.

Her face continued to burn as Ryoma quietly observed her and his eyes were definitely telling her that he didn't believe her at all. Sakuno sweatdropped.

_'I'm really a bad liar.'_

Then she heard Ryoma sigh again, making her look up.

"Let's go," he said before he started walking again.

Sakuno blinked and stared at his back. _'What?'_ Her mind pretty much malfunctioned as she tried to decipher what the boy was trying to tell her.

Ryoma stopped when he realized that she wasn't following him and craned his head to look at her. "What are you waiting for?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sakuno jolted and hurriedly caught up with him. _'So he just wanted me to follow him?'_ Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"W-Where are we going, Ryoma-kun?" she reluctantly asked.

Ryoma glanced at her before answering, "You're lost again, right?" he said matter-of-factly as if there was no way that he had guessed wrong.

"Mou, Ryoma-kun, how mean," Sakuno mumbled as she twisted her skirt in her hands. She looked down, her thoughts running wild again at Ryoma's on-point statement. _'H-how did he know?!'_

Ryoma smirked at her as if seeing through her thoughts, "You're always lost."

She briefly looked up at him but when their eyes connected, she ducked her head again. "Mou, Ryoma-kun," she murmured dejectedly. Sakuno could practically feel Ryoma smirking at her.

 _'His cocky attitude is rearing its head again,'_ she internally sighed. _'Still, even though he's so blunt and cocky, I can't help but want to be with him. To watch him as he plays tennis, or as he drinks his favorite Ponta, or when he's running laps; walking on the road, or just simply existing. I can't help but seek his presence. I'm seriously hopeless.'_ This time, her sigh was audible and she chanced a glance at the Tennis Prince walking a few feet ahead of her.

She walked with him for fifteen minutes, too distracted by Ryoma to figure out where they were or where they were going. As she continued to watch his back, she couldn't help but questioned, _'How the heck did I end up with Ryoma-kun today? Because right now, I'm currently walking with him, and actually managed to exchange more than a single sentence with him, and apparently, the cat that I saved is his cat, and its name is Karupin–'_ Slowly, Sakuno's eyes widened in realization. Her stuttering mind finally, _finally_ managed to digest the events that transpired for the past hour.

_'I-I accidentally saved Ryoma-kun's cat! A-and I'm walking with him right now! Is this fate? What are the odds of me saving Ryoma-kun's cat of all the millions of cats all over the world? I-is this a sign?'_

Sakuno's eyes slowly traced Ryoma's figure and her mind flashed to the time when she heard his voice calling out for Karupin. To his worried expression and his powerful eyes staring straight at her for more than a minute. Sakuno felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and she couldn't help but clasped her hands in front of her.

_'Please, my house, be further away!'_

Her heart started beating so fast she was afraid that he could hear it. Reluctantly, she quickened her pace a bit to walk side by side with him. She could almost feel her heart in her throat but still, she wanted to see his face.

 _'Just a glance, just a glance!'_ She encouraged herself. She took a deep breath and reluctantly chanced a glance at him.

The breath caught in her throat and she couldn't help but to stare at him for more than just ten seconds.

Ryoma was gazing at Karupin with a soft look in his eyes that Sakuno had never seen before. His usually indifferent face was gone, replaced by a child-like expression as he looked at his most beloved pet. He was softly caressing his cat's fur, giving all of his attention to it that he didn't even realize that she was _staring._

Today, Sakuno found out another vital piece of information about the tennis prodigy.

Echizen Ryoma didn't only care about tennis and Ponta. No, Echizen Ryoma actually cared about three things: Tennis, Ponta, and his Himalayan cat– _Karupin_.

 _'He looked so cute, worrying over his cat,'_ she thought fondly as she softly smiled.

Sakuno suppressed the urge to chuckle and let the silence reign over them. She was used to silence. Whenever she ends up alone with Ryoma, silence always overpowers them. The ability to talk was quickly rubbed off of her and she couldn't help but bask quietly in his presence. It was rare for her to be able to be with him.

Sakuno knew though, oh she knew that she was probably the luckiest girl in the world to be able to spend a moment with the tennis prince. Many girls would kill for just a few seconds of Ryoma's attention. But here she was, the plain, clumsy, scatterbrained Ryuzaki Sakuno spending more than a minute of Echizen Ryoma's time.

_She was definitely more than lucky._

She should try and say something, right? To try and talk with him, but about what? What was she going to say to him? She tried to open her mouth twice to say something– _anything_ to him- but then Ryoma suddenly turned and started opening a gate.

Sakuno blinked in bewilderment. She hadn't realized where they went at all. She couldn't even remember the path that they walked on.

"Ryoma-kun?" she timidly called out to him.

Ryoma stopped entering the gate and looked back at her, "Hm?"

"U-umm, w-where are we?" she nervously asked, eyes darting around and refusing to look at him.

"My house," he deadpanned as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sakuno's face boiled, "Y-Y-YOUR HOUSE!? B-B-BUT WHY?"

Ryoma cringed at her sudden outburst and looked at her weirdly. "I'm leaving Karupin here. I can't carry him around while he's injured. Wait for me here," he simply replied and proceeded to enter his house.

Sakuno blinked twice and looked up to observe Ryoma's house.

 _'I'm in front of his house!'_ her ever-present blush wouldn't disappear from her face anytime soon as she eyed the huge house– _temple–_ in front of her.

 _'He lives in a temple,'_ she absentmindedly thought, looking dazed. She didn't know how long she was standing there as the overwhelming feeling of being with Ryoma assaulted her mercilessly.

_'I've been with him all this time but like always, I can't seem to find the right words to say to him. We always spend our time in silence whenever we're together, and that's rarer than the blue moon. Though I guess, I'm fine with it.'_

"Let's go."

Sakuno jolted out of her thoughts when she suddenly heard Ryoma's voice behind her. As if a reflex, she turned around to face him. She hadn't realized that he had returned.

Without waiting for her reply, Ryoma started walking ahead of her again and, like an obedient puppy, she followed silently.

"O-Okay," she mumbled while she quietly watched Ryoma's back as he led her to her house. Come to think of it, _'How come he knows the direction of my house better than I do?'_

At this realization, a cloud of depression hovered above her head. _'I'm so pathetic.'_ she sighed in disappointment with herself as she followed behind the person she liked. _'That's why he would never notice me. I'm always pathetic and I couldn't even speak properly in front of him like a normal human being.'_

Sakuno stared at Ryoma's back in longing. All she wanted was to at least be friends with him, but how could she, when she couldn't even look at him straight in the eyes without stuttering?

 _'But I guess, I'm fine being his silent supporter as he conquers the world with his tennis.'_ Sakuno smiled softly as she remembered the burning passion in Ryoma's eyes every time he steps inside the tennis court. How powerful and fluid his every move is as he hits the ball back to his opponent and wins each match with overwhelming skill.

At the tender age of fifteen, Ryoma had conquered many international tennis tournaments all around the world and already become one of the youngest tennis pros. That was why it was quite surprising how Ryoma still chose to continue his studies in Japan. He went to America during his second year in middle school but he flew back to Japan during their third year and stayed. Sakuno didn't know when he would be going back to America again, but right now, she was content to just be with him and silently watch him play in person during every school tournament together with their senpais.

It was quite astonishing how all of Seigaku's regulars still decided to go to the same high school connected to Seishun Gakuen Middle School, Seigaku High and bonded like they were still in middle school as if time hadn't passed by them. Although captain Tezuka only returned to Japan in his second year in high school–already a professional tennis player like Ryoma–Sakuno was thankful that she could still watch them play again as a team.

She didn't know how long they walked. Still lost in her thoughts, Ryoma stopped in front of her, and she ended up bumping painfully into his back.

"Ouch!" Her hand flew up to rub her forehead before she looked up with one eye closed to Ryoma who was looking at her with mild amusement.

"Absent-minded as always, Ryuzaki. We're here," he informed her, jerking his head in the direction of her house.

Just then, Sakuno realized that they were indeed in front of her house. She felt her ears burn in embarrassment.

"T-Thank you, Ryoma-kun," she said, bowing before she proceeded to reluctantly knock at the door.

Her heart started hammering inside her ribcage again, but this time it wasn't because of Ryoma's presence. She felt her stomach drop at the thought of telling her grandmother that she had lost the money intended for grocery shopping.

 _'I'm sooo doomed!'_ She bit her lip. _'I just hope that grandma won't skin me alive,'_ she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut so tight.

The door opened after three knocks and the worried face of Ryuzaki Sumire welcomed her.

"Sakuno, what took you so long? I thought something happened to you," her grandmother frowned at her and Sakuno ducked her head, an apology already at the tip of her tongue.

"She's with me, Ryuzaki-Sensei." Sakuno jerked her head, startled at Ryoma's sudden interruption, and turned to look at him who was apparently still there standing indifferently with his hands shoved inside his pockets.

"Oh, Ryoma," her grandmother said, looking bewildered at the sight of the tennis prodigy together with her. Sumire's eyes darted from Ryoma to Sakuno and she couldn't help but blush to the roots of her hair.

"Did Ryoma go with you for grocery shopping?"

Sakuno's world seemed to stop as that question came out of her grandmother's mouth. She involuntarily flinched and started to panic. Sweat was trickling down the side of her face and her hands suddenly felt so clammy _'Oh no! Grandma, don't–'_

"Grocery shopping?" Ryoma asked in confusion, eyes darting at her pale expression.

Sakuno could've had a heart attack right then and there. "A-Ah! It's–"

Sumire's eyebrows shot up at Ryoma's question and her eyes started inspecting Sakuno's person, especially her hands that were visibly _empty_.

"Wait, where are the groceries Sakuno?" her grandmother questioned her, eyes still flickering from Ryoma's confused one to her ashen like face.

Sakuno's pale complexion started having colors as it turned different shades of red and she started stuttering pathetically, "I-I-I g-got lost! S-sorry grandma!" she exclaimed as she bowed low, tightly closing her eyes while painstakingly waiting for the scolding to start.

 _'He's still here! Ryoma-kun, go away already!'_ Sakuno wanted to cry in frustration and utter embarrassment. _'Why does he have to witness this?!'_

_'I should've thought more before agreeing with his offer to walk me home!'_

She had been too lost in la-la-land to realize that Ryoma, walking her home could lead to _this_.

_'Stupid, stupid Sakuno!'_

Sumire massaged her forehead as she sighed in exasperation. Ryoma stayed quiet but his eyes remained on Sakuno.

Meanwhile, Sakuno wished for lightning to just strike her dead on her feet to end her misery.

"Seriously, Sakuno. You always get lost. Now go ahead and buy the ingredients for our dinner tonight or we're not eating anything later."

"Y-Yes, grandma!" she immediately answered, standing straight with a forced smile on her lips while internally going crazy at the thought of not having money to buy for the ingredients. She mentally cried.

_'What am I going to do now?!'_

"Ryoma, why don't you go with her? She might lose her way again."

Sakuno was startled and she immediately whirled around to face the tennis prodigy. "R-Ryoma-kun, you don't have to! I can take care of–"

"Don't worry, sensei, I'm planning to accompany her anyway." Ryoma cut off any of her protests and sent her a meaningful gaze.

 _'You better explain yourself to me later,'_ his eyes seemed to say. Sakuno internally _wept_.

 _'I'm so doomed!'_ Sakuno tried her best to stop herself from hyperventilating and bit her lower lip hard. She bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She heard her grandmother sigh.

"Run along then, kids. Get back here immediately, Sakuno."

"Yes, grandma," Sakuno murmured, thanking the heavens above that her voice didn't quiver. Sumire looked at the both of them for a few more seconds before she went back inside the house and closed the door.

Sakuno sighed in frustration. "I'm so dead," she whispered disheartedly, forgetting about the boy who was still standing beside her.

"You used the money for grocery shopping to treat Karupin's injury."

Sakuno staggered as Ryoma suddenly spoke. She took a step back, trying to look anywhere but at him. _'Wow, he definitely nailed it.'_

"I-I...umm,"

Ryoma muttered something under his breath that Sakuno couldn't catch before he looked straight at her again. "Don't even try to deny it, your expression said it all. As always, you're still Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki" Ryoma deadpanned.

Sakuno felt her cheeks burn and she couldn't do anything but duck her head again. "I'm sorry," she whispered miserably.

"Seriously," Ryoma muttered, voice laced with exasperation. "You could've just told me earlier. I have enough money to help you with grocery shopping. I wouldn't really mind it." Sakuno bowed her head lower and Ryoma sighed again. "It's the least I can do for your help with Karupin."

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't think at all. I just… Karupin's hurt and I didn't want to see him suffer more, and I also didn't want to trouble you with my problems since I'm the one w-who chose to spend the money for Karupin's treatment," she murmured, looking down. To her horror, tears started to gather in her eyes and she tried her best to restrain them. She really didn't want to worry him.

Ryoma muttered something under his breath again that Sakuno couldn't catch and then, her hand was suddenly grabbed and she was being pulled. Her feet followed along as if they had a mind of their own. Her brain stuttered into a grinding halt as her neurons tried to comprehend what _the hell_ just happened.

She looked down at their connected hands, staring dazedly as if she herself couldn't believe the hand that was holding her. Her eyes slowly traced the owner of the hand and Ryoma's back greeted her, adorned with his red jacket up to the back of his head. Dark green hair with his usual white cap invaded her sight and that was when the information finally registered.

Warm.

His hand was calloused against her soft feminine one, yet, it was warm. Engulfing her small hand perfectly.

Ryoma was holding her hand.

 _THE_ ECHIZEN RYOMA...was holding her…hand.

It wasn't a secret that many girls from Seigaku High, including many from his international fanbase, idolized Echizen Ryoma. He was a tennis prodigy who had won many tournaments in and out of Japan, was like a literal prince from the palace of England and it was a miracle to gain a millisecond of his attention. Just a glance from his smoldering golden eyes was enough to catch any girl's breath away. Especially when he turned his attention away from tennis even just for 0.1 seconds to glance. But to actually be able to touch Echizen Ryoma's hand...

Sakuno choked on her own saliva, her face probably turning ten shades of red.

_'R-Ryoma-kun is holding my hand! HE'S HOLDING MY HAND! HE GRABBED MY HAND ON HIS OWN!'_

"R-Ryoma-kun! W-W-What–"

"Let's buy those ingredients," he simply said, still dragging her along and NOT letting go of HER HAND. _'Does he even know what he's doing?!'_

Heat crept up her neck up to her entire face and ears, making Sakuno feverish. _'A-re, am I having a fever right now?'_

She forced herself to speak and tried to reason with him, "B-b-but I-I don't have any–"

"I told you, I don't mind paying for it," he nonchalantly replied.

Her head jerked to look at the back of his head in disbelief as she unconsciously tightened her grip on his hand. _'I almost forgot that he said that! B-but that's too much! Making him pay for our grocery–'_

"B-But Ryoma-kun–"

"Stop protesting," he eyed her with a serious and stubborn glint in his eyes.

Ryoma wouldn't accept _'No'_ for an answer. "Ryuzaki-Sensei will scold you if you come back there empty-handed," he said, craning his head as he raised a brow at her.

Sakuno hung her head in resignation, "O-Okay, I'm sorry for the trouble Ryoma-kun," she whispered, utterly embarrassed.

"Not really."

"B-But–"

Ryoma stopped walking and abruptly turned towards her and flicked her forehead.

"Aww!" she exclaimed in surprise as she put a hand on her stinging skin, rubbing it to alleviate the pain. "R-Ryoma-kun!"

"Stop complaining and just follow me already," he said, a smirk slowly forming on his lips as his eyes sparkled with amusement.

Sakuno pouted as she rubbed her forehead. "Mou, you don't have to flick me," she murmured. Ryoma just raised an eyebrow at her and Sakuno internally sighed. _'How can he look so handsome no matter what he does?'_

As if taking pity on her blood circulation, Ryoma jerked his head to the side, "Let's go." He started walking again, not grabbing her hand this time.

Somehow, Sakuno was slightly disappointed. She couldn't help but wonder if it was really such a nonchalant thing for Ryoma to grab a girl's hand, but of course, she would never voice out her thoughts. So she just once again followed him silently, while clutching the hand that he had held earlier to her chest.

The heat from the pad of his hand still lingered on her skin and she couldn't forget how tingles had crawled up her spine when he dragged her along earlier. Her heart was still pounding erratically inside her chest and no matter how many deep breaths she took, it wouldn't calm down.

_'Ryoma-kun… '_

Sakuno knew that Ryoma had more important things to worry about than romancing anyone. She knew that she could never be more than a silent supporter for him, but right now, she couldn't help but hope that he had at least considered her a friend. Being his friend was more than enough for Sakuno. As long as she could stand by his side, she was fine with it.

Sakuno trailed her eyes at Ryoma's familiar back. _'I've always been staring at his back, but I'm happy that I can at least be with him.'_

* * *

Sakuno scanned her eyes across the vegetable section and grabbed two carrots in each of her hands, inspecting them with critical eyes.

"You can just buy both if you can't decide which one to choose." Sakuno was yanked out of her concentration and diverted her eyes towards her companion. She pouted when she heard him murmur: _"They're the same anyway."_

"Ryoma-kun, you can't just pick whatever you first lay eyes on. You need to make sure of its quality," she lectured, eyes turning back to the vegetables in her hands before she finally chose the one on her left.

Sakuno heard Ryoma sigh in relief as she finally decided to pick one carrot. "Are we done with the vegetable section?" he asked, sounding exasperated.

Sakuno sweatdropped as she realized that it took them an hour to finish shopping for vegetables. She chuckled nervously and avoided looking at his eyes, "Sorry for wasting your time Ryoma-kun–"

"It's nothing, let's go to the meat section," Ryoma grumbled as he walked towards the visible sign of the meat section while carrying a basket full of vegetables. Sakuno immediately followed.

As she walked behind him around the grocery store, she couldn't help but notice the couples doing grocery shopping as well. _'D-do we look like a couple too?!'_ she couldn't help but think as the heat started creeping up her neck again. She tried her best to suppress it this time.

She shook her head to get rid of her silly thoughts, and just in time too, Ryoma had stopped in his tracks and was now staring at the glass containing different kinds of meat.

Ryoma craned his head to look at her, eyes twinkling with unconcealed amusement. "Do you need multiple choices for these meats too?"

Sakuno blushed to the roots of her hair, "Mou, Ryoma-kun. Stop teasing me, I just need to make sure to grab the best quality," she muttered before her eyes drifted towards the meat inside the glass.

Knowing that the meats here were all fresh, Sakuno didn't need the same amount of time in the vegetable section. She pointed out the pork, beef, and chicken to the salesman and watched as he wrapped them accordingly.

They then went to the fish section and wasted half an hour choosing what fish to buy. Sakuno had a feeling that Ryoma was so bored out of his mind that he resorted to finding amusement in the least interesting thing around him–namely: Sakuno. She didn't know whether to be annoyed that he was making fun of her indecision in the fish section or be happy that he was _actually_ paying attention to her.

"Mou, Ryoma-kun. Stop it already," she pouted.

Ryoma pinned his hat down to hide his expression but the mild shaking of his shoulder didn't escape her notice.

"I thought you're going to inspect every single fish in the aquarium. They might end up traumatized, Ryuzaki," he said, not even bothering to conceal the mirth in his voice.

Sakuno felt the tip of her ears burn for who knows how many times since meeting him today and she couldn't help but pout again.

"Are we done here?" Ryoma asked with a faint smirk on his lips.

Sakuno nodded in reply and they proceeded to the counter to pay for the things they brought. There was a small line in front of them so they waited patiently for their turn.

"Ryoma-kun…" she silently called out.

Ryoma turned to her and hummed in acknowledgment.

"Thank you for accompanying me and being patient with me today," she said, staring straight at his consuming eyes, trying to gaze longer, although she knew that she could only stare at him for a total of ten seconds before she felt the burning feeling on her neck spreading through her whole face. Sakuno immediately ducked her head to conceal her flustered expression. _'His eyes could melt anything!'_

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," he nonchalantly said before he moved forward, putting the things they brought onto the counter table.

 _'Ah! It's already our turn, I didn't realize it,'_ she thought as she hurried beside Ryoma and proceeded to help him unpacked the goods from the three baskets.

Just like he said, Ryoma paid for everything and quietly grabbed all the plastic bags but she insisted on carrying at least two of the bags and Ryoma reluctantly conceded. Sakuno couldn't understand why he was hesitating though, she couldn't let him carry all those bags alone. However, as soon as they stepped out of the grocery store, Sakuno realized why Ryoma was reluctant to let her help because not even a few feet away from the exit of the store, she tripped on an unsuspecting rock and almost ended up making out with the cold ground, if not for Ryoma's athletic reflex.

An arm immediately wrapped around her petite waist, successfully stopping her from face planting on the floor. She could feel the heat that was emanating from his skin on her waist and she felt her whole body tingle in delight at their close proximity.

 _'It felt like he just hugged me.'_ Steam seemed to puff out of her head because of these thoughts and she immediately tried shaking the hopeful thoughts away. _'Stop being stupid, Sakuno. Mou, how embarrassing!'_

Sakuno felt as if an eternity had passed before Ryoma steadied her and removed his arm from her body when in reality, it was just a total of five seconds. Her face burned in utter embarrassment and she repeatedly thanked him for once again saving her, only to be cut off when the two plastic bags in her hands were snatched out of her grip and replaced by a single plastic bag–probably the lightest bag in his hand.

Sakuno blinked twice before her eyes connected with his cat-like golden orbs and once again, she was enthralled.

"Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki," he said with a smirk as he proceeded to walk ahead of her.

"Mou, Ryoma-kun…" she muttered before following him in silence as he led her back to her house.

She didn't know at that time, but that was the day when things started shifting between them when their simple acquaintance relationship changed into something else. Something they could never back away from.

**_To be Continued..._ **

* * *

**A/N:** I know I know, I already have three on-going stories but I couldn't help myself. I just really need to write and post this for the sake of my inner peace. Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon any of my on-going stories. I'm working on them just be patient. Anyways, this is my FIRST attempt at doing pure romance and I don't know if I'll do just fine or I'll suck at it, please let me know what you guys think and leave your reviews. English is not my first language so pardon me if there are grammatical errors. I'm still looking for a beta reader who knows the plot of Prince of Tennis cause these Beta readers are my betas for my older fics and they mainly a Naruto and Yu Yu Hakusho watcher.

Thanks to the following people for beta-ing even though Prince of Tennis is not your fandom:

_**to2llyuntraceable, o0CrimsonsDragon0o, Stacy Donnely, and John Holley, Morgan Hadden** _

_**SyrinxSilenus** _


	2. Two: English Tutor?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for waiting! Here's chapter 2! Hope you like it guys. 
> 
> Enjoy reading!

_**One Touch** _

**~Two~**

**English Tutor?**

* * *

Ryuzaki was staring at her English notebook so intently that she hadn't realized someone was currently watching her while her brow furrowed and she chewed on her bottom lip mercilessly.

Echizen Ryoma, who was sitting not too far from the girl, looked to the side to conceal the smirk that crept on his lips as he tried his best to restrain the laughter that was bubbling in his chest. She looked at her notebook as if it was the devil incarnate. He didn't know that she could be this entertaining, it was quite surprising since she was always in the background, timid and quiet, but there seems to be more to her.

Ryoma picked a slice of salmon from the lunch that Ryuzaki Sakuno gave him earlier and mindlessly chewed on the juicy meat. She may be a klutz but she really knew how to cook. It was a good thing that she readily offered to make his lunch as a thank you for his help with her grocery shopping dilemma last week. It meant that he could have his favorite Japanese food every day. That was a win-win for him.

Ryoma couldn't really get the girl, though. It was he who was indebted to her. That was why he had volunteered to accompany her to the grocery store and walked her home, yet she still went to the trouble of offering her services to him. He really couldn't figure out how her brain worked.

Frowning, his eyes drifted back to scan the girl in front of him. The two of them were currently on the rooftop and _supposed_ to be eating their lunch in silence– _Ryoma hated mingling with their fellow classmates, especially with that idiot Horio and Ryuzaki's loudmouthed friend_ –but the girl was too busy worrying over their upcoming English test to fill her stomach.

_'Why does she need to waste good food? She could just give it to me if she doesn't want to eat it.'_

Ryoma sighed before he took a bite from his last rice ball and immediately snatched the notebook from the girl's hands. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden disappearance of the object that held her attention, and looked up at Ryoma, as he chewed a mouthful of rice ball.

"Ryoma-kun, c-can you please give m-my notebook back?"

"Hm," Ryoma lazily gazed at her as she looked back expectantly and her eyes flickered to the notebook that he had placed beside him.

"No, I don't want to," he nonchalantly replied, finally finishing the contents of his lunch box.

"Wha–"

"Eat your lunch first, Ryuzaki," he deadpanned at her.

Ryoma stared her down, daring her to oppose him. Alas, the girl knew better than to argue with him; she sighed in resignation and proceeded to eat her lunch.

"You're so demanding, Ryoma-kun," she mumbled under her breath, probably thinking that he hadn't heard her, but his keen ears were sharper than she thought.

"You'll starve yourself to death, but if you really don't want to eat your lunch, give it here and I'll eat it for you," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Ryuzaki ducked her head, probably pouting, "I'm already eating it now."

Ryoma smirked as he opened a can of Ponta and sipped, "Why are you stressing over our English test so early? You still have a week to prepare for it," he couldn't help but point out.

English was a piece of cake for Ryoma since he practically grew up in America. _'English is just a language, anyway,'_ he always reasoned out whenever his classmates pointed out his efficiency with the subject. But apparently, not everyone thought the same.

"Mou, it's because you're good at English. That's why you're not stressing about it Ryoma-kun. I, on the other hand…" she trailed off before she hung her head, looking depressed.

Ryoma silently eyed her for a few seconds as she quietly ate her lunch, pouting all the while, before he sighed.

"Don't worry about it," he said, chugging the last drops of Ponta from the can in his hand, "I'll help you out."

Ryuzaki jerked her head up and stared at him with widened eyes. "W-what do you mean that y-you'll help me Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma didn't know whether to be amused or just roll his eyes at her reaction. _'Her face is bright red again, and her ever-present stuttering is rearing its ugly head. I wonder why she always does that in front of me? She seems fine when talking to other people,'_ he couldn't help but muse to himself.

Instead of voicing his observation though, he decided to answer her obvious question, "I'll tutor you in English." he paused, side-eyeing her before continuing, "Meet me at the gate after practice."

Ryuzaki's face seemed to light up like a Christmas tree and in seconds, she was already a few inches away from his face and was already holding his hands in hers, looking at him with sparkling amber eyes and a big grin on her lips.

"REALLY! Thank you so much, Ryoma-kun!"

Heat suddenly started to creep up on his neck, and something funny was stirring in his stomach because of their sudden proximity. Something also seemed wrong with his heart because it felt like it just skipped a beat, and was now running a marathon on its own.

"Ah, y-yeah." He cleared his throat and frowned at his sudden stuttering. _'Is Ryuzaki's stuttering problem contagious? Should I distance myself a bit before I catch it all completely?'_ Ryoma contemplated as Ryuzaki _finally_ realized her abrupt action. She squeaked, and immediately let go of his hand, bowing in apology.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I got carried away!"

Ryoma instinctively lifted a hand, and was about to pull the apparently _nonexistent_ fila hat down to cover his reaction, but realized that he was wearing his school uniform right now. With the absence of his ever-trusty hat, he opted to shift his face to the side and discreetly put some distance between him and Ryuzaki.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," he nonchalantly said, schooling his features into its usual indifferent one.

To Ryoma's relief, the fast beating of his heart finally started to calm down. He softly exhaled before he frowned again. _'Am I having some serious heart disease now? Should I set an appointment with the doctor?'_ he worriedly thought to himself.

"Ryoma-kun?" he was pulled out of his musing by her soft, worried voice and he immediately brushed off her concern.

"Hn. Lunch is about to be finished, let's go back to class," he said as he grabbed his empty lunch box and handed it to her.

"You're right, umm… let me just finish my lunch," she replied as she proceeded to rewrap his now empty lunch box, then resumed eating her own.

As Ryoma waited for her to be finished, he couldn't help but remember the reason why he ended up with Ryuzaki Sakuno on the roof instead of joining his senpais at the burger joint.

It had been a week since the incident with Karupin happened, but Ryoma could still remember how worried he was when he woke up a little bit early for a Sunday morning, only to find out that Karupin was missing.

He searched around the temple for his cat but he couldn't find him anywhere. Karupin wasn't the kind of cat who would wander far away from home and if he ever wanted to walk out of the house for a bit, he wouldn't take long outside. That was why he figured that something had happened to Karupin.

After an hour of waiting for the cat to return, Ryoma had hauled himself outside the house to look for his pet. Imagine his horror when he found him in Ryuzaki Sakuno's arms _injured._

Ryoma had few things he valued and much fewer people he cared about: his family, tennis, KARUPIN, Ponta, and a few of his carefully picked friends. Karupin had always been with him and he knew that Karupin was probably the only thing that he showed affection to. His pervert of a father even joked that Karupin was his mistress while tennis was his wife. _'Stupid old man.'_

The point was, even though he wouldn't verbally say it, Karupin was precious to him, and seeing him injured and finding out that he was treated so cruelly almost made him dash to look for those kids and hit them with a hundred twist serves all over their bodies. Maybe then they would learn not to touch what was his. Ryuzaki's presence there was the only one stopping him from hunting down those pests.

Ryoma knew that he couldn't leave the girl alone considering how awful her navigation skills were. Karupin could probably navigate his way around the city more than the girl could. Aside from that, he was thankful. He knew that if it was someone else who found Karupin besides Ryuzaki, his cat might have never come back to him.

Aside from saving Karupin, she even paid for his treatment. No one would just sacrifice their money for grocery shopping to treat an unknown cat's injury. Nevermind being scolded by her grandmother, she didn't even think about what she would do next, as long as the cat was treated. She didn't even ask anything from him. If it was any other girl, she would have taken advantage of the situation to get closer to Ryoma and to demand things from him.

Ryuzaki, though, didn't even let him know that the money she used wasn't even _hers_ to begin with. AND still, she was the one who thanked him for accompanying her and paying for the groceries when in fact, it was just _right_ for him to pay for them since she had used her original money for his cat's treatment. She even offered to make his bento every day as an apology for the trouble she caused him.

He couldn't even believe his ears at what he was hearing from her. Ryoma was honestly flabbergasted at what the girl did. Right then and there, Ryuzaki Sakuno's image suddenly changed in his eyes. She wasn't just the clumsy, stuttering, directionally-challenged Ryuzaki Sakuno but an impossibly dumb simpleton and the most selfless, kindhearted girl he had ever met.

It may be just a simple incident in other people's opinions, but for Ryoma, it told him a lot about the girl's character. Such a simple act of kindness to an animal made him realize that there was more to Ryuzaki than meets the eye.

"Ryoma-kun?"

He was abruptly snapped out of his musings when the object of his thoughts called out to him. Making sure that his mask of indifference was in place, he nonchalantly looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?" he asked. Ryoma watched as the girl fidgeted and started stuttering again.

"U-umm...I've called you three times," he blinked at the information. _'I didn't hear her calling for me at all'_

"Hn," he grunted as he discreetly shifted his face to the side to hide any hint of embarrassment at being caught in a daze.

"U-umm, Ryoma-kun, we should get back to class. W-we will be l-late soon," she whispered, looking at the already wrapped lunch boxes in her hands.

"Ah, right." He nodded once before walking out of the rooftop, down the stairs, and into the hallways.

He could feel her following behind him and he couldn't help but wonder why she was always walking behind–and a few feet away from him too–instead of trying to walk by his side.

As soon as he wondered that, though he heard the squealing girls around and he sighed. _'I guess keeping her distance from me is ideal if she wanted to spend the next couple of years in high school in peace.'_

He knew how wild his fangirls were, and he also knew for a fact that they would do anything to get his attention. They were one of the most irritating things that were constant in his life, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to get rid of them anytime soon.

Ryoma saw the door to their classroom and as soon as he entered, his poor ears were bombarded by high-pitched squeals of: _"Kyaaaaah, Ryoma-sama!"_

He instantly snapped his hands on his ears to save his eardrums from bleeding, and tried his best to dodge each of the crazy girls' approaches. _'Argh! Why me?'_

Once he successfully entered their room, he immediately went towards his seat and sat heavily after dodging a few attacks from his fangirls. He observed from the corner of his eyes as Ryuzaki timidly walked past him to her desk.

After being surrounded by too many loud girls, Ryuzaki Sakuno was like a breath of fresh air for Ryoma. That was why he didn't mind her company at all. With her, he could relax all he wanted without worrying about suddenly being jumped. The girl was so quiet that he could dismiss her presence and let his guard down. He even preferred her over Horio on any day.

Ryoma propped an arm on his desk and rested the side of his cheek on his palm as he observed the back of the girl's head. She was reading her English notes and probably was deaf to the world again.

He glanced up when their math teacher entered their class. Ryoma grumbled a greeting together with his classmates, but then he noticed that Ryuzaki was still unaware of her surroundings.

He glanced at their math teacher, who was currently busy flipping through a book, then back to the oblivious girl. _'She'll get in trouble if she doesn't pay attention soon.'_

Slowly, a mischievous smirk appeared on his lips as he stretched his left hand to grab one of the girl's braids, and abruptly _yanked_ it.

As expected, Ryuzaki let out a startled yelp as she held on to her braid, and briskly whirled around with an open mouth; probably to yell at him. He cut her off before any words could come out of her mouth.

"Tadashi-sensei is here, you'll get in trouble if you don't pay attention," he nonchalantly said as if he hadn't just yanked her hair.

Ryuzaki's eyes lit up in understanding, and her cheeks turned pink as she ducked her head and shifted her body back in front.

"Y-you don't need to pull my hair to let me know t-that, Ryoma-kun," Ryoma heard her murmur.

His smirk turned into a grin that he immediately suppressed. "Che." Ryoma shifted his attention outside, and zoned out the boring lesson of the teacher.

 _'Ah, I'd rather play tennis now,'_ he thought before he pulled out his math notebook and started copying the formula written on the board.

Lessons may bore him, but Ryoma wasn't a bad student. He always made sure that he had straight-As on his report card, _'Otherwise, mom would kill me and probably shave Karupin's fur.'_ Ryoma shivered at that thought. His mom could be sweet and scary at the same time. No wonder she could stand his perverted father. Only Echizen Rinko could put a leash on the legendary Samurai.

The written formulas and examples on the board multiplied, and finally, their teacher addressed the class.

"So, who can solve the problem no. 1?"

Ryoma sighed quietly, his eyes dropping as he tried to focus his attention on the problem on the board.

_'This will be a loooong day.'_

* * *

He shot a powerful twist serve into Momo-senpai's direction and _finally_ , after four failed attempts, his senpai managed to return it.

"HORAHORAHOORAAAAH! I finally returned your twist serve, Echizen! Duunn!" Momo-senpai gloated, rolling his right shoulder and pointing his index finger at him. Ryoma pretended that he didn't hear his senpai gloat as he ran towards the ball.

"Mada mada dane, Momo-senpai," he said with a cheeky grin. His racket connected with the ball, and with a mighty swing from his left arm, Ryoma cleanly returned it.

"Wha-You cheeky brat!" Momoshiro hurriedly went after the ball, but Ryoma knew that the ball was too far for his senpai to reach on time.

Momo-senpai leaped on the ball and Ryoma watched as it impacted on the opposite side of the court, with Momo-senpai flat on the ground. Ryoma heard his senpai groan as he lifted himself and pouted.

"Game and match, Echizen! 6 games to 1," Kikumaru-senpai declared.

Ryoma put his racket on his left shoulder, and grinned triumphantly at his senpai. "You were saying, Momo-senpai?" he smugly said as Momoshiro fumed.

"You little brat! I'll get you for that!" Momoshiro yelled as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Hoi, hoi! You almost got it Momo-chan!" Kikumaru-senpai tried to cheer him up, but Momo-senpai only pouted.

"Saa, at least you got a single game from him this time, Momo," Fuji-senpai said with his creepy smile plastered on his face, tapping Momo-senpai's shoulder twice in an attempt to comfort him.

"Fusshhh, sore loser," Ryoma heard Kaido-senpai say at the corner. He watched in amusement as Momo-senpai's ears twitched and he angrily rounded at the man wearing his usual green bandana.

"Shut up, Mamushi! I didn't see you winning a single match against Echizen either!" Momo-senpai angrily hissed.

"What did you say? I can win a match from him on any day!" Kaido-senpai rebuked as he leaped from his crouched position on the ground.

Ryoma suppressed the urge to snort at Kaido-senpai's denial, but since he was feeling generous today, he would let his senpai have his dignity for now. Although he couldn't promise that a little retribution wouldn't happen once they paired up against each other on the next practice match.

As another argument broke out, Kikumaru and Oishi-senpai tried to break up the fight while Inui-senpai continued to write on his handy-dandy notebook. Ryoma turned his back at them, not wanting to get involved in their childish squabbles. Seriously, his senpais may be one or two years older than him, but when it comes to maturity, his senpais were years below him.

"Mada mada dane, senpais," he said with a smirk, which Momo-senpai still managed to hear.

"Oi, Echizen, where are you going? I want a rematch!" Momo-senpai called out.

Ryoma stopped to look at him. "Sorry Momo-senpai, I have other things to do. Practice is over today anyway. Ja!" Ryoma said with a small smirk and lifted a hand as he left them with a wave.

"You done, Echizen?"

Ryoma looked up and stared at their coach, Yamamoto Jun. He still wasn't used to seeing their new coach, although it had been three months since he started high school. He didn't want to say it out loud, but he somehow missed his old coach, Ryuzaki Sumire. Ryuzaki-sensei maybe a bit of a sadist, but she had been his coach for two years and it wasn't that easy for him to adjust.

"Yes, sensei. I'm done with the drill," Ryoma answered. The man nodded and patted his shoulder.

"Good work, don't be late for the morning practice tomorrow," Yamamoto-sensei reminded.

"Yes, sensei. I'm going now." Ryoma then turned to their captain after bowing his head a little at their coach. Tezuka Kunimitsu, who was watching the others with his signature stoic expression and crossed arms, looked at him as he approached him.

"Ja, Buchou," Ryoma said with a raised hand.

"Hn. Don't let your guard down on your way home, Echizen," Tezuka-buchou stoically said. Ryoma only nodded and proceeded to their locker to change his clothes.

Ryoma heard from his senpais that Tezuka-buchou only returned to Japan last year to continue his studies in High School here. Like him, though, Tezuka Kunimitsu had succeeded in his goal in Germany and become a pro. Tezuka-buchou went out of the country from time to time like Ryoma to enter international tournaments too, but both made sure that they were present during important matches in Japan.

He was in the middle of zipping his bag when his senpais entered the locker room with Momo-senpai and Kaido-senpai still in the middle of an argument. Ryoma immediately hoisted his bag on his shoulder and nonchalantly started walking towards the door. He didn't want them to notice that he was hastily making his exit to avoid them. _'It will be hard to escape if I went out together with them. If they found out that I'm walking with Ryuzaki, they would never let it go.'_

His hand was twisting the doorknob when Momo-senpai suddenly called out to him. Ryoma froze in his tracks.

"Oi, Echizen, do you wanna come with us to the burger joint? Kikumaru-senpai said that it would be his treat."

"I didn't say that, nya!" Kikumaru-senpai's protest fell on deaf ears as his other senpais' attention was focused on him.

Ryoma looked down for a bit, trusting his bangs to cover his eyes with his hand tightening on the knob. "Sorry Momo-senpai, my mother wants me to go on an errand after school so I can't come with you now. Maybe next time, Ja ne!" He finally opened the locker's door and stepped out. He closed the door and let out a quiet sigh before he was running away from the tennis club and into the school gate faster than his twist serve.

He couldn't risk his senpai following him. The last time he did Ryuzaki a favor, his nosy senpais stalked them for the rest of the day thinking that the two of them were on a date when in fact, he just accompanied Ryuzaki to the racket stringer to restring her racket, and he was asked by Ryuzaki-sensei at that time! It was not that he volunteered. The same thing happened when his idiot father forced him to tutor the girl in tennis even though Ryuzaki-sensei had originally asked the old man to do it. Ryoma had also previously walked the girl home a couple of times during their middle school days after being harassed by his nosy senpais.

Come to think of it, this was probably the first time that Ryoma offered his help to Ryuzaki without being prompted by others. It would cause chaos if his senpais found out. _'I would never have a day of peace. They would tease me 'til the end of high school.'_ Ryoma suppressed the urge to shudder at the thought. His senpais were crazy.

He couldn't understand why his senpai was making a big deal of him and Ryuzaki whenever they were together. It was not that they were close. Well, he had to admit that he preferred her over his other classmates and junior teammates any day, and that he actually considered her his friend, but still. Why did the senpais make a big deal out of it? He just couldn't understand what they wanted to happen or what they were aiming for. _'Hmp, stupid senpais.'_

As he was nearing the gate, he caught a glimpse of a girl with two braided pigtails standing on the side of the gate, looking at her wristwatch. Ryoma craned his head to his back to make sure that his senpai didn't follow him before he fastened his pace and grabbed Ryuzaki's hand as he passed by her.

"Ah! R-Ryoma-kun!" she yelped in surprise.

"Run, Ryuzaki!" he instructed without looking at her.

"What? Why?"

Ryoma didn't bother answering and just continued to drag her. When they were far away enough, he stopped to make sure that no one was following them.

"R-Ryoma-kun, w-what was...t-that?" Ryuzaki questioned, trying to catch her breath as she leaned forward, hands on her knees for support.

"I don't want our nosy senpais following us around," he answered as he unconsciously stared at her hunched figure, watching her gasp for breath.

Then, as if time had temporarily slowed down on its own, Ryuzaki looked up at him and their eyes clashed with each other. Her dark amber eyes had never been so wide as they shone brightly, with the sunset visible on her back, making her look enthralling. Ryoma could clearly see his serious expression reflecting on her eyes.

"Ryoma–kun?" her hesitant voice snapped him out of the unknown trance, and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Your stamina sucks," his tongue went.

Ryuzaki hung her head dejectedly. "Mou, I know that, and I'm working on it, Ryoma-kun."

With his ever-dependable hat currently nonexistent because he was back in his school uniform, he turned his back on her to avoid whatever weird expression he had on his face. He really didn't know what was going on with him but somehow, he felt like he frantically needed to get his act together or he would be doomed forever.

* * *

Momoshiro Takeshi knew that something was going on with their kouhai. Echizen Ryoma rejecting the prospect of free food was close to impossible, yet all of them heard him state his nonchalant rejection. It was as if a box of Ponta was dangled in front of his face, yet he just walked past it without a second glance.

That was why he immediately grabbed Kikumaru, Fuji, Oishi, and Inui-senpai to follow his suspicious kouhai. Mamushi just tagged along, and look at what they just found! His kouhai with their former coach's granddaughter.

"Are they secretly dating? They're holding each other's hands!" Kikumaru-senpai asked as he gasped in surprise.

He, on the other hand, laughed, "Way to go, Echizen!"

"Hm, good data. I always predicted that there's an 85% chance of Echizen dating Ryuzaki Sakuno, 5% on Tachibana An from Foudomine, and 3% chance on Osakada Tomoka."

Takeshi couldn't help the frown that appeared on his face when he heard Tachibana's sister being mentioned.

"Why is Tachibana's sister an option for Echizen's love interest?" he briskly asked before he could stop himself.

Inui-senpai looked at him with his glasses glinting in the sunlight.

"I'm sorry Momoshiro, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Don't worry, there's a 90% chance that you're going to end up with Tachibana An. A huge difference in number compared to Echizen's statistic," Inui-senpai calmly replied as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. He didn't sound sorry at all.

Takeshi felt the heat creep up his neck and up to his cheeks. "WHA-WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH ME?!"

"Oi bastard, we're going to lose Echizen if we continue to stand here, fusshh," Mamushi hissed.

"Saa, let's go and follow them," Fuji-senpai said with his signature creepy smile.

"I still don't think that this is a good idea," Oishi-mama hesitantly stated.

"Hoi, hoi, don't be a mother-hen now Oishi. Let's go and follow O'chibi!" Kikumaru-senpai happily exclaimed as he pushed Oishi's hesitant body forward.

The rest of them followed the golden pair, running after their kouhai, and abruptly hid in the bushes as their Kouhai stopped. Echizen also let go of Ryuzaki-chan's hand, Takeshi noticed.

They did their best not to make any noises as they listened intently to the two's conversation, and almost spilled a few loud giggles when they heard that their kouhai didn't want to be followed by them.

"Nya, too late O'chibi," Kikumaru-senpai whispered, muffling his giggles with his hands.

Takeshi snickered evilly. "You're still Mada mada dane, Echizen."

Oishi sweatdropped as Mamushi hissed, Inui-senpai quietly muttered as he furiously scribbled on his notebook, and Fuji-senpai's creepy grin widened, Momoshiro almost felt sorry for their kouhai. The keyword was _'almost'._

Anyways, something interesting was happening and Takeshi couldn't suppress the huge grin that appeared on his lips, threatening to split his face in half because of how large of a grin it was.

Echizen Ryoma was currently _staring_ at Ryuzaki Sakuno in a _trance_. Their kouhai was probably unaware of it but his neck had turned red and a slight tinge of pink was visible on his cheeks.

"I can't believe it! Echizen….is blushing?" Oishi said with a voice reflecting his utter disbelief.

"Oh boy, Echizen Ryoma isn't asexual," he murmured in excitement.

"O'chibi is _staring_ at Sakuno-chan," Kikumaru-senpai happily whispered.

"Fusshh."

"Hm, hm… this data is a great addition to Echizen's profile," Inui senpai muttered as his fingers wrote furiously.

Fuji-senpai's intense blue eyes were wide open, which was much creepier than his usual creepy smile. Takeshi felt thankful that the creepy look wasn't directed at him. _'Poor Echizen, poor Ryuzaki-chan.'_

Everything that was happening was almost unbelievable if it wasn't for the fact that they were witnessing it with their own eyes. Takeshi was having a proud big brother expression when the inevitable happened.

_The brat opened his damn blunt, mouth._

His teammates immediately grabbed him when he almost leaped out of the bushes in an attempt to straggle the brat and shake him until he came to his senses. There was no way that it was alright to say that to a _girl!_ Kikumaru and Fuji-senpai put a hand on Takeshi's mouth to muffle his screams and forced him to quietly watch the two.

His struggling stopped when he heard the brat's next words.

"Hn. Where are we going?" Echizen asked, as he rearranged the strap of his tennis bag on his shoulder and shoved a hand in his pocket.

"Hm, grandma won't be home anytime soon. So we can go to my house, but if you want, it's okay if we do it at your house too."

All of their eyes became wide as dinner plates at what _innocent_ Ryuzaki-chan had said.

"A-a-are t-they t-talking about w-what I think they shouldn't be talking at this age?" Oishi-mama stuttered, looking extremely scandalized.

"I can't believe Sakuno-chan is this forward, nya!" Kikumaru-senpai stated in disbelief.

"It's always the quiet ones, it seems," Inui-senpai calmly remarked, writing furiously in his notebook.

"Let's do it at your house, then. That old man will never stop pestering us if we choose mine," Echizen nonchalantly said.

"I can't believe Echizen is so bold," Takeshi heard Mamushi quietly whisper.

"Man, Echizen is going to get it before any of us. I don't know if I should be proud, or feel devastated," he muttered.

"Saa, you should ask Tachibana An on a date then, Momoshiro."

Takeshi scooted away from Fuji-senpai as he sweatdropped.

"Fujiko's right, Momo-chan!" Kikumaru-senpai readily agreed as he wrapped his arms around Takeshi's neck.

He choked. "Aaack, Kikumaru-senpai! Echizen and Ryuzaki-chan are walking away!" he managed to gasp.

"Oops, let's go, nya!"

 _'Ah, my life was saved.'_ Takeshi thought as he rubbed his abused neck before they proceeded to follow their kouhai again.

He and the others all stopped in front of their old coach's house, and a few sighs of relief were heard as Ryuzaki Sumire opened the door for the two teenagers.

"Sakuno." Sumire smiled before her eyebrows shot up at the sight of Echizen Ryoma, nonchalantly standing beside her granddaughter.

"Grandma, you're home early!" Ryuzaki-chan gasped in surprise.

"Ohohohoho, busted," Takeshi and Kikumaru-senpai started giggling at the sudden turn of events, while Fuji sighed in disappointment.

"Better luck next time, Echizen," Fuji-senpai said with a creepy smile on his lips.

He and Kikumaru-senpai cringed when they saw this, and scooted away from the Tensai.

"Hm… Yes, is that a problem?" They all snapped their attention back to the object of their entertainment when they heard their former coach asked. Takeshi could hear the suspicion in Ryuzaki-sensei's voice as she arched her eyebrow higher.

"N-no! Ryoma-kun kindly offered to t-tutor me in English s-since the exam is near," Ryuzaki-chan immediately defended Echizen as she fidgeted in place.

The six of them slowly stared at each other as realization dawned on them at the same time.

"Ahh, I knew that our kouhai is too innocent for that. We should've trusted Echizen more," Takeshi immediately rebuked his earlier statements with one comment.

"Hoi hoi, O'chibi's too innocent for that!" Kikumaru-senpai readily agreed.

"I-I knew it from the start! Ryuzaki-chan is too shy for t-that!" Oishi stated, smiling awkwardly but looking relieved.

"Saa, I should've considered Echizen's character before jumping to conclusion," Fuji-senpai conceded with a hand on his chin.

"Ah, wrong analysis, have to correct this," Inui-senpai muttered.

"If you two are here to study, then what are the others doing here?" Ryuzaki Sumire asked and the six of them blanched.

"Busted," Kikumaru-senpai murmured.

"Others?" Takeshi heard Echizen and Ryuzaki-chan muttered at the same time.

One by one, the six of them went out from their hiding spot while sheepishly laughing.

"Senpai." Echizen's glare was quite deadly as he tried to kill each one of them with his laser-like eyes.

"Ahahaha, we just wanna make sure that you're alright, Echizen. You were acting suspiciously." Takeshi tried to laugh it off, but it looked like Echizen wouldn't be placated anytime soon.

"Ah, I think we have to prepare ourselves for the next practice match. O'chibi looks ready to hit us with a couple of his twist serves, nya!" Kikumaru-senpai said, sweatdropping.

"E-Echizen! We didn't mean any harm!" Oishi tried to defend, waving his hands in front of him with an awkward smile on his lips.

"You better start running away now senpais, or else–" Echizen pulled out his racket from his tennis bag and was now rummaging for a tennis ball.

Momoshiro Takeshi didn't want to be present when Echizen shot that ball at them. Since he had high self-preservation, he hastily threw an excuse. It went along the lines of: _"Oh, look at the time, mom asked me to feed the dogs and I'm late, Ja ne!"_ and he hightailed out of the scene faster than Fuji-senpai's Tsubame Gaeshi.

At least he was entertained for a bit there.

"Darn that Echizen, always such a brat!"

* * *

Sakuno let out a sigh as they closed the front door.

"Why did they need to follow us?" she quietly exhaled as she removed her shoes.

"Che, stupid senpais," Ryoma muttered with a scowl.

Sakuno looked up as her grandmother started laughing.

"Those brats never changed. The two of you hurry up and eat some snacks before studying," her grandma said with her arms crossed.

"Thanks, sensei. Sorry for intruding," Ryoma said as he put on the house sleepers.

Sakuno walked inside the house towards the kitchen with Ryoma following behind her. It made her a bit uncomfortable because this was the first time that Ryoma was walking behind her. It was...different.

"Do you prefer tea or hot chocolate?" Sakuno asked Ryoma.

"Mm, hot chocolate. Don't make it too sweet," he answered as he sat opposite her grandma at the dining table.

Sakuno smiled, "Okay."

She made two hot chocolates for her and Ryoma, and one tea for her grandmother. She made sure that the hot chocolate was not too sweet for Ryoma's taste buds. Sakuno knew that Ryoma wasn't really a fan of sweets although he drank a lot of Ponta. She had been giving him chocolates every Valentine's Day since middle school, and for some reason, her chocolate was the only chocolate that Ryoma accepted during Valentine's. He declined his fangirls' offers and didn't even bother picking up the boxes that were shoved in his shoe locker. It made her feel special and hopeful that maybe, Ryoma felt the same.

After all these years though, Sakuno figured that the reason why Ryoma accepted her chocolate was that, she gave every Seigaku Regulars their own shares. Even Horio and the other two freshmen. She guessed that Ryoma conceded because it wasn't from his obsessive fangirls. _'But I'm also your fangirl Ryoma-kun, just a silent supporter, though.'_

Sakuno gave her grandmother her tea and slid a cup of hot chocolate towards Ryoma.

"Thanks," he murmured as he grasped the cup.

"You're welcome," she automatically answered with a smile before she turned around and grabbed her baked cookies. It was a good thing that she baked a lot yesterday. _'At least I can give another one of my cookies to Ryoma-kun.'_

She heated the cookies before she served them to Ryoma and her grandmother.

"I'll carry the rest to my room," she said, and Ryoma nodded. Sakuno sat down beside her grandmother while sipping her own chocolate.

"So how's everyone, Ryoma?" her grandmother asked.

She heard Ryoma scoff, "Still the same."

Sakuno and Sumire chuckled at Ryoma's scowling face.

"As expected," Sumire said with a small smile on her lips. "Made me feel a bit nostalgic."

"Why, you missed us, sensei?" Sakuno could practically hear the cocky smirk on his lips, and couldn't help but smile.

"I don't miss the headaches you brought me," her grandmother replied with a grin.

A soft sound from the oven signaled that the next batch of cookies was already heated. Sakuno stood up, leaving Ryoma and her grandmother to their conversation as she busied herself. After she put the cookies on a plate and tidied her mess on the kitchen counter she called out for Ryoma.

"Ryoma-kun, the cookies are ready. Let's go up?" she softly asked.

Ryoma glanced at her and excused himself from her grandmother.

"I'll leave my granddaughter in your care Ryoma. I hope she improves her grades."

Sakuno blushed to the roots of her hair because of that statement. "Grandma!"

Sumire laughed and Ryoma smirked.

"Okay, run along now, kids."

As she and Ryoma were walking up the stairs to her room, it was then that realization dawned on her. _'R-Ryoma-kun will be coming inside my room! He'll be in my room! A boy will be in my room for the first time and its Ryoma-kun! Ohmygod, is my room clean? Did I properly hide my underwear?'_ Her thoughts became more and more frantic, and she abruptly twisted to face Ryoma, who managed not to bump into her, but still looked a bit startled at her sudden action.

"R-Ryoma-kun! Let me check my room first before you come in. Wait for me here!" Sakuno hastily instructed before she bolted up and towards her room without even looking at Ryoma's reaction.

She closed the door to her room and exhaled, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. She slapped her face once before she proceeded to scan her room. After a thorough inspection, she sighed in relief, grateful to herself for always cleaning her room. _'Okay, Sakuno, let's face the music now.'_ She took a few deep calming breaths and mentally prepared herself for the inevitable.

_'Come on Sakuno, it's not as if you're doing something bad with R-Ryoma-kun. He's just going to tutor you. No big deal.'_

'Yeah right, THE Echizen Ryoma is going to tutor you and it's not a big deal. Who're you kidding, Sakuno?' She mentally blanched at what the little voice in her head said. She slapped her face one more time to snap her out of her incoming panic. She put a hand on the doorknob and twisted it open. She slowly peaked out her head to look for Ryoma and was greeted by his nonchalant figure leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He stared blankly at her and she offered him a hesitant smile.

"Sorry for making you wait. I just made sure that my room is um, clean," she awkwardly laughed as silence answered her.

Ryoma sighed, "You don't have to be too nervous, Ryuzaki," he said as he coolly walked towards her, making her automatically open the door. She stood to the side to let him enter and watched him quietly.

Ryoma stood in the middle of her room and silently roamed his eyes around, inspecting her pink room filled with stuffed toys. Her face burned in embarrassment as Ryoma continued to survey her room without saying anything. His eyes stopped on the number of photos decorated in front of her study table, their middle school photos with their senpai.

Ryoma walked closer to the wall and eyed the numerous pictures she shared with all the Seigaku Regulars in their middle school days. Sakuno watched him nervously, waiting for him to say something as she fiddled with her fingers. Then she noticed that his eyes were lingering too long on one specific picture.

The accidental photo that Shiba-san, the reporter, captured on the day Ryoma injured his eye in one of their important matches. That day, Shiba-san wanted to have a photo with Ryoma and asked the Prince of Tennis for one, to which he nonchalantly agreed, but when the photo was about to be captured, Momo-senpai _'accidentally'_ bumped into her. Due to the unexpected chaos, poor and innocent Sakuno was pushed towards Ryoma and suddenly replaced Shiba-san in the photo.

The photo ended up with her disgruntled-looking face, tightly closed her eyes while leaning unto the curious-looking Ryoma. They looked so innocent in the picture amidst the chaos and it was Sakuno's most favorite picture. That was why it was placed in the middle of all the chaotic pictures on the wall of her bedroom.

Sakuno started hyperventilating as she saw Ryoma curiously staring at it.

"A-ah, t-that photo was accidentally captured b-by Shiba-san, and she gave a copy to me…" she stuttered pathetically.

"You're very sentimental, Ryuzaki," Ryoma said as he craned his neck to look at her.

Sakuno felt as if something was shot straight to her heart as she saw a small smile on Ryoma's lips. A very, very rare smile that Echizen Ryoma wouldn't just give to anyone, probably aside from Karupin. Sakuno's beating heart had escalated to a whole different level as she felt her whole face practically _combust._

"I-I-I treasure the memories I share with everyone," she stumbled over her words as she tried her best to look anywhere but at Ryoma. Her heart couldn't take another glimpse of _that_ smile.

"Heh, maybe I should get a copy of one of these group photos," he said, gesturing his hand to the numerous photos on the wall.

"I-I could ask Shiba-san for another copy. I'm sure she still has them," she bashfully offered.

Ryoma looked at her with a small smirk on his lips. _'Ohmygod someone help me! I'm being suffocated here!'_

"Ryuzaki?" she snapped out of her inner panic as she heard him called out to her.

"Y-yes!" she squeaked.

A noise came out of Ryoma, like a snort of some sort, but it seemed like he just– _'OHMYGOD did he just_ chuckle? _!'_

"Absent-minded again, Ryuzaki?" he said, his lips twitching as if suppressing a grin. Sakuno wanted to rub her eyes. _'Is Ryoma-kun...amused? By me?!'_

"I-I was... What were you saying again, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma raised an eyebrow at her and he was _definitely_ smirking at her now. "I said, give me a copy of this one too," he said, gesturing vaguely at a specific picture.

Sakuno blinked, _'Huh?'_ before her eyes traced the photo that he was gesturing and she nearly choked on her own saliva. _'That?'_ she faintly thought as she stared at their _'accidental'_ photo. _'W-why does he want to have a photo of us?!'_

She almost hyperventilated again, but she tried to reason with herself. _'Don't think too much of it. The others in the background being chaotic looked memorable too. It's not as if you're special. Stop daydreaming, Ryuzaki Sakuno!'_ she scolded herself before she nodded at Ryoma.

"O-okay, Ryoma-kun," she muttered as she tried to rein in her blush.

"Thanks," Ryoma replied before his attention drifted off the wall and into the other parts of her bedroom again.

"Let's start, then."

Sakuno nodded before she proceeded to put the small table in the middle of her room and pull out two pillow cushions for them to sit on.

Sakuno brought out her English notebook with her pens and put it on the table as Ryoma did the same. He grabbed her notebook and flipped through the pages as she nervously fiddled with her fingers on her lap.

Sakuno quietly watched Ryoma as he started writing in her notebook, looking as unconcerned as ever. After a few minutes, he stopped and slid the notebook towards her.

"Answer these so I'll have an idea what to start."

Sakuno nodded at him and quietly read what he had written. As her eyes scanned the sentences, she couldn't help but notice how neat Ryoma's hand-writing was, unlike some boys in her class. She suddenly felt a powerful urge to run her finger over the written letters, but refrained from doing so. Ryoma was watching her and he would undoubtedly feel disturbed if she did so in front of him. _'I'll do it later.'_

Suppressing a delighted sigh, Sakuno started answering the twenty questions that Ryoma had written. Her forehead creased in concentration as she tried to answer them to the best of her ability. _'I don't want to disappoint him.'_ She knew for herself though, that she could only try because she really sucked at English.

As the minute went by, Sakuno almost forgot Ryoma's presence as she focused on the difficult sentences and questions. It took her a while before she managed to answer them all and when she looked up to give it to Ryoma, she was greeted by a very rare sight.

Ryoma was sleeping on the table with his arms as his pillow. _'He looks so...so adorable!'_

"Cute," she unconsciously blurted out as she looked at Ryoma's relaxed face. He looked so much younger in his sleep.

Sakuno slowly leaned forward to look at his face closely and couldn't help but smile as he softly breathed in his sleep.

"Thank you for helping me, Ryoma-kun," she softly whispered before she placed an arm on the table and rested her head on it while staring at Ryoma's peaceful face.

_**To Be Continued...** _

* * *

**_SyrinxSilenus_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give credits to my awesome beta readers. Thank you so much! I'm so grateful to you two for beta-ing even though Prince of Tennis is not your fandom.
> 
> o0CrimsonsDragon0o, Stacy Donnely, Morgan Hadden
> 
> SyrinxSilenus


	3. Chapter 3: Ryoma's Confusing Actions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait. As compensation, I am posting two chapters tonight!
> 
> HEADS UP! I'm giving Sakuno actual character here because I believe that her character is not yet explored in the Prince of Tennis, so if you think that there are some non-canon information (Hint: Sakuno's past and her parents), I fitted my own idea to give her shyness justification and to give way for more character development. I hope you understand, but if you mind that, I'm so sorry, this is probably not the story for you. Anyways, to those people who still want to continue, enjoy!

_Italics_ \+ **Bold** words are dialogues spoken in English: "RyoSaku forever and ever…"

* * *

**~Three~**

**Ryoma's Confusing Actions**

"Grandma, I'm going!" Sakuno yelled as she hurried out of the house and into the road.

Her hand tightened on the bento box she was holding and felt her heart jump in excitement at the prospect of seeing Ryoma so early in the morning. She giggled to herself.

One week and a day had passed since Sakuno had saved Ryoma's cat from the bullies, and she felt like her life would never be the same again.

It was as if she were living in a fantasy. Sometimes, she still couldn't help but question if she had just made up everything that happened. Of course, she always reminded herself that Ryoma was probably feeling indebted to her and that was why he was so nice lately. He'd assured her he wasn't helping her because of Karupin, but she was still a bit skeptical.

Nearing the intersection, she caught a glimpse of him leaning on the wall with his hands on his pants pocket. Sakuno grinned, running faster towards Ryoma. She stopped in front of him with a hand on her knee, panting a little.

"Ryoma-kun, did you wait long?" she asked as she looked up at him.

"Not really," he replied, his bored, golden eyes gazing at her. "Your stamina still sucks."

Sakuno pouted. "Mou, I didn't ask you about my stamina," she said, which he answered with a smirk.

Huffing, she handed him the bento she made this morning and he accepted it with a simple, ' _thanks.'_

"I told you that it's fine to give this to me at lunch," muttered Ryoma. "If only Momo-senpai would stop dragging me away during lunch."

"Mm, Tomo-chan also has her moments, so we really don't have a choice if we don't want to be mercilessly teased," Sakuno said, feeling exasperated. "Besides…" She clenched her skirt nervously. "I don't want to be the center of attention, Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma's fangirls were ruthless. Girls suspected of flirting with him were – at best – ostracized. At worst, they were guinea pigs for their own version of Inui Juice. Last time, Sakuno had barely escaped with her life. Thank goodness for Tomo-chan's protection.

"Che. Annoying fangirls." He scowled.

Sakuno chuckled at his displeasure.

"Let's go," he said, walking towards the direction of their school.

"To be fair, it's not _really_ their fault Ryoma-kun is extremely good at tennis." she pointed out, giggling beside him. _'And devilishly handsome too,'_ she added internally.

Ryoma looked put out. "Are you seriously blaming this on me?"

She couldn't help it, she laughed which earned her a death glare from Ryoma.

"It's not funny," he gritted out.

Sakuno stifled her laugh with a hand but Ryoma continued to scowl.

The usual companionable silence reigned on them after that little conversation, but Sakuno didn't mind. Ryoma, after all, was a quiet person and she didn't have any complaints about that. ' _Ryoma-kun is Ryoma-kun.'_

It wasn't like she didn't want to talk to Ryoma. She loved every little second of their conversations, but each word was chosen carefully. He'd bought her a Ponta in penitence, but the memory of him telling her, _"You're talking too much,"_ still haunted her. She smiled to herself. They'd come so far since that day.

Just last week, they started going to school together, and yesterday, Ryoma started tutoring her. Or rather he spent two hours sleeping at her desk while she did his writing exercises.

He still checked her answers once he woke up though, and so thoroughly criticized her she was ready to hide in her bathroom. Fortunately, she managed to take all of his criticism without much of a fuss.

As they reached the school gate, Sakuno gradually let herself drift away from Ryoma, who didn't protest. Both knew it was easier to enter the grounds separately.

Fortunately, she was only alone until she reached the classroom.

"Good morning, Sakuno!" exclaimed Tomoka, enveloping her in a hug.

Sakuno smiled as she returned her best friend's hug gently. "Good morning, Tomo-chan."

"Ryoma-sama just arrived a few minutes before you! Haven't you seen him on your way here? You walk the same route right?" Tomoka excitedly asked.

Sakuno sweatdropped. "N-No. I didn't see him," she blatantly denied. _'I'm so sorry, Tomo-chan! I can't tell you anything!'_

It was not as if she could tell her best friend that she was _actually_ walking with _Echizen Ryoma_ on the way here. It would be as if she had gone ahead and announced it to the whole school if she did. Her best friend had such a loud voice.

"Geez, still slow as ever, Sakuno. If I were you, I would've waited for Ryoma-sama every day and acted like it's just an accident so we could walk together on our way here," Tomoka said dreamily.

Sakuno nervously laughed then glanced at Ryoma. As if feeling her gaze on him, he craned his head to look at her with a raised eyebrow, and she quickly averted her eyes back to Tomoka. She could practically feel him boring holes to the side of her head while she did her best to ignore him.

' _Mou, he would definitely ask about this later.'_

"By the way, Sakuno…"

She returned her attention back to Tomoka and took a step back when her best friend's face was suddenly inches away from her with a suspicious look on her face.

"W-What is it, Tomo-chan?" Sakuno tried her best to smile at Tomoka, putting up her hands to prevent the girl from coming closer.

"Lately, I've noticed you disappear during lunch. Where were you? And why didn't you take me with you?" Tomo-chan asked with narrowed eyes.

Sakuno swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, "I-I told you I was sent on an errand and–"

"Oh really? You're not lying to me are you?" Tomo-chan crossed her arms, arching a brow at her.

"N-No! Of course not, Tomo-chan." She didn't sound convincing, even to herself. Sakuno wanted to disappear into thin air.

"Hm, do you perhaps have another errand later?" Tomo-chan's brow arched higher.

"U-Umm…" What was she going to say? She couldn't just tell Tomo-chan that she was supposed to eat lunch with Ryoma!

"T-Tomo-chan–"

Before she could blurt out something stupid though, she was interrupted by the bell. Sakuno couldn't have been happier to hear the school bell.

_'I'm saved! But, Tomo-chan is getting suspicious, what am I going to do now?'_

* * *

Lunchtime had finally arrived and most of the students hurried to the cafeteria, leaving the blackboard still filled with their teacher's scribbles and the chairs in disarray.

It was one of Sakuno's favorite parts of the day, because of a certain Tennis Prince with whom she enjoyed a quiet rooftop lunch. Sadly, that didn't seem possible today.

Sakuno scratched her head as Tomoka stood in front of her desk with an expectant look on her face.

She let out a quiet sigh. _'I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun. You're eating alone today. Mou, Tomo-chan, why do you have to be so demanding?'_

Deciding to just apologize to Ryoma later, Sakuno grabbed her bento to join Tomoka in the cafeteria – only to jerk in surprise as their classroom door abruptly slammed open.

"Echizen! Let's go to the burger joint, Kikumaru-senpai's treat!" Momo-senpai thundered as he hastily wrapped an arm around Ryoma's neck, nearly choking him.

Sakuno could vaguely hear Kikumaru-senpai protesting in the background but it fell on deaf ears.

"M-Mo–mo-senpai!" exclaimed Ryoma, struggling to remove himself from his grip.

"O'chibi, you've been disappearing for a week now. Where are you eating your lunch?" Kikumaru-senpai suddenly asked, bouncing towards the two. It was funny how Kikumaru-senpai still called Ryoma _'O'chibi'_ when they were practically on the same height now.

"Around," Ryoma flatly replied as he was finally able to free himself.

Like spectators in a comedy bar, she and Tomo-chan quietly watched as the two senpais snicker at the Tennis Prince while he was angrily straightening his wrinkled uniform.

"Ooh, now that you mentioned it, Kikumaru-senpai. Sakuno's been gone for a week too!" Tomo-chan exclaimed beside her.

Utterly mortified, Sakuno tried to say something but was cut off by Momo-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai.

"Ohhh, what is this, Echizen?" Momo-senpai's face looked devilish.

"Secretly eating lunch with Sakuno-chan, O-chi-bi?" Kikumaru-senpai teased, his eyes dancing with glee.

Sakuno burned to the roots of her hair. _'How can they guess that immediately?! We didn't even say anything!'_

"N-No! T-that's not–"

"Oohh, why don't we join you in the burger joint, senpai?" Tomo-chan mischievously suggested and Sakuno stared at her in horror.

"T-Tomo-chan!" she yelled, looking utterly flustered. "S-She's kidding, senpai! We're actually about–"

"It's fine, it's fine...the more the merrier," Momo-senpai cut her off with a large grin.

"B-But we don't–" She was about to protest more when she caught sight of Ryoma staring at her so intensely that she was tempted to back herself into the wall.

 _'W-What's with that look?'_ He was practically demanding her to come with them.

Sakuno took a step back, the back of her legs bumping her chair.

She drifted from Tomoka's hopeful expression to Ryoma's intense eyes. With that, she knew that she lost all the fight in her. Ryoma could just make her do anything, and she was powerless to protest.

She hung her head in surrender. "O-Okay then…" she whispered.

"Yay!" Tomo-chan cheered as she hugged her.

That day, she and Tomoka went with Ryoma and the two senpais to the burger joint to eat lunch.

As Fuji, Tezuka, Inui, Kawamura, Oishi, and Kaido-senpai joined them, Sakuno knew that lunch was already a gigantic mess.

The tables were all pushed together to accommodate eleven people. They were at the far corner of the burger joint, crammed into a single table.

Kawamura-senpai was holding his racket, shouting and swinging it around. Kikumaru and Momo-senpai were holding a grumpy looking Ryoma hostage as they made fun of him. Oishi-senpai was fussing over all of them, and the rest were having their own conversations while Sakuno sat rigidly, counting signs of disapproval from the other customers.

Just then, Ryoma was promptly dumped beside her like a sack of potatoes by Kawamura-senpai at Momo and Kikumaru-senpai's insistence.

Fuji-senpai sat beside her, putting his order on the table. On her left was Ryoma, trying to fix his uniform while Momo-senpai sat beside him.

Sakuno looked over curiously as Momo-senpai sent her a mischievous grin, and nudged Ryoma towards her, nearly pushing him into her lap. Her eyes widened as she angled herself to catch Ryoma's body, her back bumping onto Fuji-senpai's side.

"Ah!" Her hand braced for Ryoma, cushioning his fall. Without glancing at her, Ryoma kicked Momo-senpai off his chair and he crashed on the ground.

"Stupid Momo-senpai," Ryoma gritted out.

"Echizen!" Momo-senpai stood up, wound his arm around Ryoma's neck and started ruffling his hair.

Sakuno turned to Fuji-senpai to apologize but he immediately waved her off.

"It was an accident, Sakuno-chan," Fuji-senpai said, before she could reply she felt Ryoma being shoved to her side again. She winced. Clearly, Momo-senpai had returned to his seat.

She and Ryoma barely had space to move. She had to be careful or she would end up in Ryoma's personal space. Sakuno's face burned as she bunched a fistful of her skirt in her hands while Tomoka sent her suggestive looks from across the table, who was surprisingly sitting beside Kaido-senpai.

Kikumaru-senpai was sitting across Ryoma, and beside him was Oishi-senpai who was trying to settle down everyone. At opposite ends of the table were Inui and Tezuka-senpai

"Looking good, Echizen," Fuji-senpai casually said.

" _ **BURNING!**_ Echizen's so manly!" Kawamura-senpai yelled, who was still standing and swinging his racket.

The whole table roared with laughter as Ryoma's eye rapidly twitched. He looked like he was having an aneurysm.

"Echizen is so mischievous, hogging Sakuno-chan for himself," Momo-senpai added teasingly.

"Senpai! T-that's not–"

"Hm, I knew from the start that Echizen was hiding something, and there is an 85% chance it involves Ryuzaki-chan," Inui-senpai muttered, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"We aren't–"

"E-Echizen, make sure you and Sakuno-chan aren't involved in any, shall we say, extracurricular activities," Oishi-senpai said, gazing nervously at the two of them.

Sakuno felt like she was going to faint from embarrassment. No one was letting her speak!

"Senpai! Ryoma-kun and I aren't–"

"Echizen, don't let your guard down," Tezuka-senpai said.

"Fuussh…" Kaido-senpai hissed. Who knew what he meant by that?

"Take care of Sakuno, Ryoma-sama!" Tomo-chan exclaimed.

She needed somewhere to disappear into. Like a place to hide and bury herself forever.

"Ah, I think Sakuno-chan is saying something, nya!"

 _'Thank you so much Kikumaru-senpai!'_ But then, everyone was staring at her now. Sakuno sweat nervously.

"You're making her uncomfortable, stupid senpais," Ryoma muttered beside her, which – in spite of everything – made her heart skip.

_'D-Did Ryoma-kun just...stand up for me?'_

"R-Ryoma-kun–"

" _ **MANLY!**_ ECHIZEN TAKES CARE OF HIS GIRL!"

Sakuno flinched from the volume and clutched her hands to her chest looking horrified. Everyone in the burger joint was staring at them now.

Just then, Ryoma grabbed onto his tennis bag laid forgotten under the table.

"Somebody grabs that stupid racket from Kawamura-senpai, or I'll–"

Thankfully, Fuji-senpai got the message and snatched the racket from Kawamura-senpai before a bunch of twist serves started flying into their faces.

Kawamura-senpai finally calmed down and reverted to his shy demeanor. "I-I'm sorry, everyone…" he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

He sat down at the extra chair beside Fuji-senpai. Sakuno and Ryoma were sandwiched with no space to move. She could practically feel the heat of his body beside her, and every time one of them moved, their skin rubbed into each other. Sakuno stared at her forgotten bento placed on top of the table right in front of her, trying to hide her blushing face from everyone.

"Are we eating yet?" said Ryoma, looking ready to murder.

For a second, Sakuno was afraid Ryoma would stop eating lunch with her so she hastily turned her head to Ryoma. "I-I'm sorry, Ryoma-kun. They–"

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked, finally facing her. Their legs and elbows bumping on each other. Ryoma's forehead was creased, and he looked pretty messed up. Sakuno actually felt sorry for him, but at the same time, she was distracted by their proximity.

"I–They thought–"

"Don't worry about it, the senpais are just crazy," he dismissively said before he glared at the overly attentive senpais.

Except for Kaido, Tezuka, and Oishi-senpai, who looked more worried than anything, the rest gazed at them as if they were watching a soap opera. Tomoka was even winking at her!

Blushing madly, Sakuno smiled gently at Ryoma and nudged him with her foot. He gave her a smirk and nudged her back before he returned his attention to their audience.

"and Momo-senpai...prepare for the next practice."

Momo-senpai's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Echizen! They were jokes! Don't be a spoilt sport. You guys looked so cute–"

"50 laps around the court, Momoshiro."

Sakuno quickly looked up to stare at Tezuka-senpai in surprise.

"B-But, Buchou–" Momo-senpai tried to protest.

"100 laps," Tezuka-senpai deadpanned.

Momo-senpai melted in his seat, and the whole table quieted down.

"Stop torturing those two and eat your lunch. Time is running out," Tezuka-senpai commanded.

Everyone murmured in agreement, afraid to run laps like Momo-senpai. However, not even a few minutes later, a new argument broke out.

Momo, Kaido, Kikumaru, and Fuji-senpai were now competing who could eat more food, and Ryoma was even coaxed to join the challenge by Momo-senpai. Tomoka even went to cheer for them.

Sakuno quietly giggled as the chaos rolled in the background.

* * *

The next day, Sakuno handed Ryoma his bento box and they walked together to school.

She prayed for Kami-sama to grant her alone time with Ryoma today. Unfortunately, Tomoka decided to hog Sakuno for herself again, immediately latching onto her arm before she could even stand from her desk.

"T-Tomo-chan!" Sakuno yelped in surprise as Tomoka dragged her out of the class, her bento bag already in Tomo-chan's hand.

"You're not running around to wherever again. C'mon, Katsuo-kun and Kachiro-kun are already waiting!" Tomoka said, directing her to the school garden under a big Sakura tree. All Sakuno could do was sigh and let her best friend manhandle her.

Tomoka gently pushed her down beside a root and put her bento on her lap.

Tomo-chan then showed her a V for victory. "Now, let's eat!" she happily exclaimed as Katsuo and Kachiro laughed sheepishly. The two were seated across Sakuno while Tomoka sat between them.

Sakuno sighed again, "Alright. It's not as if I'm running away." She pouted as Tomoka laughed, and the two boys scratched the back of their heads.

"We were dragged here too," Katsuo murmured.

"You think Horio will look for us?" Kachiro asked worriedly.

The two silently stared at each other as Sakuno laughed nervously. "Maybe he'll get here," she said, uncertain herself.

Tomoka scoffed, "I hope not, I intended not to invite him after all," she said while crossing her arms.

"Hah! You wish!"

They all jumped in surprise as Horio suddenly appeared out of nowhere with…

"R-Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno exclaimed in bewilderment.

"Chisu," the Tennis Prince greeted blandly and sat beside her.

_'What's he doing here? I thought he'd be with the senpais!'_

Her heart started going crazy, and her fingers nervously shook, making her hyper-aware of Ryoma's presence beside her. _They weren't alone, and Tomo-chan's here._

Tomoka and Horio continued to scream at each other while Ryoma and the rest of the freshmen trio decided to focus on their lunch.

Sakuno glanced at her best friend and sweatdropped. "Tomo-chan, mou…" She sighed in exasperation and decided to fish for her new earphones in her pocket.

Tomoka accidentally destroyed her previous ones after borrowing them for a day. She was already planning on saving money to buy new earphones, but her grandmother beat her to it. It had been a while since she was able to enjoy lunchtime with music in her ears, and right now, she really needed it.

As the upbeat sound of _Girigiri_ by Sonarpocket blasted in her ears, Sakuno exhaled in contentment. With her heart finally calming down, she was able to unwrap her bento without spilling anything.

Tomoka and Horio continued to bicker loudly as they bit into their own food, but their voices were thankfully muffled by the music. Sakuno smiled as she quietly ate while watching Horio and her best friend, Kachiro and Katsuo discreetly scooting away from the two, sweatdropping.

Sakuno giggled as she bit into her onigiri while the chorus of the song devoured her senses, and she started nodding her head a little in time with the music.

_~Girigiri ni STAY shite sakebe tsugi no mirai kitai shitai_

_Girigiri ni FLY AGAIN iku zo tsukame SMILE~_

She was startled out of her music-induced daydream when her left earphone suddenly disappeared. She turned her head to the side only to be bombarded by Ryoma's addicting scent, making her face explode in heat.

"R-Ryoma-kun…" she stuttered. The other pair of her earphones was currently plugged in Ryoma's right ear with his index and middle finger securing it.

"Hm, I didn't know you listen to this kind of music," he commented as he glanced at her.

"I-I listen to all genres of music," she mumbled, looking down at her bento.

"Heh, this is nice. At least Osakada and Horio's irritating voices are harder to hear," he said, smirking. And then, he was eating his bento again, unaware of the effect he had on her.

Flustered beyond belief, she quietly shifted her other pair to her left to make it more comfortable for the both of them to share the earphone.

She willed her fingers to stop shaking as she went back to eating. However, she caught sight of her best friend's twinkling eyes when she looked up and the trio freshmen's gaze as they all stared at her and Ryoma in various kinds of disbelief. Sakuno felt like burying herself six feet under as she ducked her head down and stared at her bento.

_'Ho-e! This is so embarrassing! Ryoma-kun, what do you think you're doing to me?!'_

* * *

_**"He stopped as if suddenly hit by a spear. In pain, he turned to her. Her face was in agony. It pained him to leave. She had been wonderful to him. What was it that made a man wish for a child? What was it in life, in the work in the field, in the planting and harvest, in the silence of the night, in the communing with husband and wife, in the whole life of the tribe itself that made man wish for the laughter and speech of a child?"** _

Ryoma's voice flitted through her ears as he read a passage from _The Wedding Dance_. She couldn't get enough of his husky, melodious voice even though it sounded as flat as a board. She could probably listen to him read a cookbook and still enjoy it.

"Do you understand everything up to that part?"

Sakuno blinked. _'What?'_

His eyebrow arched expectantly as she continued to gaze at him in confusion. Just then, Ryoma suddenly leaned forward from across the small table and flicked her forehead.

"Ouch!" she yelped and promptly rubbed the stinging skin.

"Stop daydreaming," Ryoma scolded. "Here…" He slid the book to her and scowled. "Read that out loud and translate it into Japanese after three sentences."

Sakuno blushed as she grabbed the book from the table. "S-Sorry…" she whispered.

 _'Ohmygosh! He caught me!'_ Afraid to look back at him, she scanned the book and furrowed her forehead in concentration. There were a lot of words that were too deep for her to understand.

"I told you to read it out loud," he flatly pointed out.

Sakuno squeaked. "R-Right…" She cleared her throat, praying for all the gods out there for her voice not to shake. _**"S-Suddenly she found courage. She would go to the dance. She would go to the chief of the village, to the elders, to tell them it was not right. Awiyao was hers; nobody could take him away from her. Let her be the first woman to complain, to denounce the unwritten rule that a man may take another woman. She would tell Awiyao to come back to her. He surely would relent. Was not their love as strong as the river?"**_ She stopped.

 _'Ryoma-kun told me to translate it to Japanese after three sentences. What's a_ _ **denounce**_ _in Japanese? Mou!'_ She was panicking now.

Ryoma sighed and flicked a pencil at her.

"Underline the words that you can't understand," he commanded, answering her silent question.

"Okay…"

She didn't know how long it took her to finish the task, but when she looked up, Ryoma was sipping on a can of Ponta, reading another English book.

"Ryoma-kun, I'm done," she called out as she slid the book back at him.

Ryoma removed his attention from the book he was reading and scanned what she had underlined.

"Hm, there's a lot," he observed, he gazed at her. "You have an English-Japanese dictionary, right?"

Sakuno nodded and stood up to grab her English and English-Japanese dictionaries from her study table and returned to her previous seat.

"Look for these words and translate everything little by little," Ryoma said.

Sakuno did what he instructed without complaints and worked in silence. Once she was finished and she was finally able to understand the whole story, she frowned.

"What?" Ryoma suddenly asked which startled her.

"Umm, it's just–the story is kind of tragic..." she muttered.

"Hm…" Ryoma curiously looked at her. "Do you mean, Awiyao choosing Madulimay over Lumnay?"

She nodded, crossing her arms as she reanalyzed the story in her head. "It's just, Awiyao said he loves Lumnay, and they were married for seven years. But why did he agree to leave Lumnay because she can't bear him a child?" she said, her frown deepening.

Ryoma arched a brow at her. "It's not really Awiyao's fault. This story is about a certain tribe, and Awiyao was already expected to have a son to continue their clan's lineage. It's his duty to the tribe, he can't just turn his back from his destiny."

Sakuno couldn't help it, she snorted. "Destiny? It's his decision, even though it's the law to them. They could've just run away and adopted a child if he really loved Lumnay."

Ryoma looked at her with amusement in his eyes. "You're being hard on Awiyao. Think of their circumstances. During this time, adoption isn't probably a thing yet, and running away with Lumnay is like turning his back from his duty. He's the future leader of their clan. There are more people involved, not just him and Lumnay."

Sakuno clenched her skirt, she felt her heart aching for some reason. "So, you're telling me that it's right to choose his duty over the woman he loved? His wife for seven years?" she carefully asked, silently wishing for her voice not to shake.

Ryoma frowned at her, "I'm saying that it's right to choose his future and his people over his own desires."

_'Ryoma-kun's future. His family, and everyone's expectations of him. He has a bright future ahead of him, and being romantically involved with someone will only distract him from his main goal. Ryoma-kun is destined to be number one, and he will definitely choose his future over someone like me.'_

Sakuno smiled a little at Ryoma. "I understand now, Ryoma-kun. I'm sorry for being an idiot."

Ryoma looked at her weirdly. "Are we still talking about the same thing, here?"

She faked a cheerful chuckle. "Mou, what else am I talking about, Ryoma-kun?"

"Che. If you're done with that, we still have another story to review." He flipped through the pages of the book before he slid it over to her.

Sakuno smiled ruefully, and absentmindedly returned to her work.

_'I should stop assuming things just because Ryoma-kun treats me a bit differently. We're friends. Just friends. And I will forever support him until he finally reaches his dreams. It's not about me, it's about Ryoma-kun's future.'_

The hours ticked by while she silently analyzed the new story and Ryoma was once again, fast asleep when she looked up from her notes and books.

"Mm, Karupin...don't eat my...sushi," he mumbled in his sleep.

Sakuno chuckled as she propped her elbows on top of the table, and rested her face on her hands, smiling softly at Ryoma's cute sleeping face.

"G-Gimme my Ponta–Nn, Momo-senpai."

She chuckled again as Ryoma grimaced.

"Karupin and Ponta eh, Ryoma-kun…" she whispered in amusement.

"Nn...stupid...Ryuzaki."

She jumped in surprise and dropped her arms on the table, blinking in astonishment at the sleeping Tennis Prince.

"Ryoma-kun…" she whispered in astonishment. Her heart was pounding erratically inside her ribcage. _'Wait! I shouldn't think too deeply about this. I already steeled my resolve!'_

She didn't know why she felt so happy when Ryoma was just sleep-talking and insulting her even in his sleep, but somehow, being in his dream meant a lot to her. No matter how much he insulted her there, she probably wouldn't mind. She was just so ecstatic hearing her name while he was asleep.

_'I guess...I'm fine with this'_

Sakuno smiled to herself as she watched Ryoma. She didn't know how long she was staring in a daze-like manner, but she jerked her head up at the sudden knock. Her grandmother was poking her head through the doorway.

"Sakuno, I reheated the food. Wake up Ryoma and come down to the kitchen," her grandma said, arching an eyebrow at the still sleeping Ryoma.

Sakuno felt her cheeks heat up as she hastily nodded. "W-We'll be right there, Grandma."

Her grandmother just stared at her for an agonizing moment before she smiled.

"Grandma?" Sakuno asked, confused.

"Be patient dear, you can only pick the sweetest fruit when you wait for it to ripen," she said. Sakuno frowned, not understanding what her grandmother meant.

Sumire chuckled amusedly, shifting her gaze from Sakuno to Ryoma before she started closing the door, but opened it once again, peeking back her head to look at Sakuno in amusement.

"One more thing, Sakuno."

"Yes?" Sakuno blinked at her grandma as the old woman started to chuckle.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Ryuzaki Sumire said before she completely closed the door.

Sakuno stared blankly at the closed door as her whole body blazed in embarrassment.

That night, the three of them ate dinner together.

Sakuno secretly smiled to herself as she watched Ryoma talking, with Sumire laughing from time to time and Ryoma smirking or scowling in annoyance.

_'Maybe, I can still have these little moments, as long as my feelings stay a secret. I can still be with Ryoma-kun, as a good friend.'_

* * *

The tennis ball smashed against the brick as Sakuno rallied against the wall. Sweat was rolling down the side of her face, and she tried to control her heavy breathing the way Ryoma taught her in the past. She'd been going at it for an hour or so, and the fatigue was slowly getting to her. Still, she'd been remarkably agile even though her legs felt as heavy as an anchor.

As if Kami-sama wanted to remind her never to speak too soon, she twisted too quickly and lost her balance. The ball flew back somewhere behind her and she closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Instead, a strong arm caught her around the waist just before her face got acquainted with the clay. Sakuno snapped her eyes open and was greeted with a familiar cat-like, golden eye staring straight at her with his face so close to her own.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" she exclaimed in surprise, her cheeks rapidly heating up and her heart drumming like crazy.

Ryoma gave her a smirk as an answer. "Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki," he said as he helped steady her in her feet.

Sakuno clutched her racket in her hands and hugged it to her chest to ground herself to reality.

"T-Thank you for saving me, Ryoma-kun!" she bowed her head once before she looked back at him, but his attention was no longer on her.

Sakuno traced Ryoma's gaze and found out that he was looking at the red racket in her hands. _'His former red racket that he gave me when he went back to America in our first year of middle school.'_

Ryoma stretched out a hand and Sakuno hastily handed him his former racket as she stared at him in puzzlement. He twirled the racket in his hand before he let out a small smile.

"It's been three years," he muttered.

"Do you want your racket back?" she asked. Although she would miss it, she wouldn't mind giving it back to Ryoma. He won many challenging battles with it, and after all this time, Sakuno couldn't figure out why he decided to give it to her.

Ryoma lifted his eyes and smirked at her. "No, you took care of it just fine," he said as he handed the racket back to her.

Sakuno blinked in bewilderment. "Are you sure you don't want your racket back, Ryoma-kun? It's fine–" An identical racket landed on her head, quelling her worries.

"I gave it to you so it's yours now," he said, removing his racket on her head and placing it on his shoulder.

Sakuno slowly nodded, hypnotized by his fierce eyes. _'Ryoma-kun is so handsome, standing like a model in front of me!'_ She could have melted into a puddle of goo.

He smirked again, "Let's rally."

Sakuno's daydream shattered as his words registered through her. "W-What!? No! I'm no match for you, Ryoma-kun!"

He arched a brow at her firm rejection. "We're not going to have a match. I just need a rallying partner."

"H-How 'bout the senpais?" she frantically suggested.

The racket landed back on her head. "You're being stupid again. Let's go," Ryoma said as he started walking further back to the wall.

He casually stood there with a raised brow, demanding her with his eyes to _'get on with it.'_

Resigned, Sakuno sighed and got into position. She perked up in curiosity as Ryoma fished a ball from his pocket only to pull out her earlier ball.

"Eh, when did you–"

"Before I went to catch you. Brace yourself," he answered without letting her continue her question.

Sakuno hastily tried to focus as Ryoma threw the ball in the air and hit it using his right arm. _'At least he's holding back.'_

Praying to all the gods that she wouldn't trip or miss the ball, Sakuno ran towards the tennis ball and miraculously managed to hit it back to Ryoma's side. She would have jumped in glee then and there.

"Hm, not bad…" he commented as he returned it back to her. Ecstatic at his compliment– _Yes, that was considered a compliment–_ she determinedly ran for the ball again and almost tripped, but still managed to hit it back.

"Don't be too tense. You'll lose your balance."

She jolted at the sudden advice, but nodded and rearranged her stance. She hit the ball back, but it went a bit low.

"Bend your knees more," said Ryoma as he still managed to catch the ball and return it back to her. "Hit it a bit harder."

"Yes!" she answered as she scrambled to catch the ball. She sighed in relief as she managed to return it.

"Don't be satisfied with that kind of shallow return. You can't always be satisfied by barely making it over if you don't have somebody to back you up."

She squeaked in embarrassment. "I'm sorry!"

_'He noticed!'_

"Pay attention to the ball! If you get distracted, your opponent will easily see your blind spots." Her eyes widened and she hurriedly ran for the ball. She bent low and managed to catch it before it landed on the ground. She grunted as she hit the ball much harder this time.

"Heh, nice…"

Sakuno blushed at his second compliment.

"Still, though. Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki," Ryoma said, smirking as he rocketed the ball past her forehand swing.

She stared in disbelief at the dent that the ball caused in the ground and puffed her cheeks in irritation. "Mou, no fair Ryoma-kun. You hit it much harder this time."

Ryoma chuckled, his red racket placed on his shoulder as he approached her. "You should be able to return that," he chortled.

Sakuno felt her ears burning. _'He's teasing me again.'_

"You know I can't yet." She pouted.

"Heh...you said, _'yet'_ " he smirked. "Let's practice until you manage it."

Sakuno's eyes widened. "P-Practice? With you, Ryoma-kun?" she asked in bewilderment.

Ryoma gave him a deadpanned look as if telling her that her question was stupid.

"I-I mean, don't you have a team practice right now? Why do you want to practice with...me?" she confusedly explained. _'I don't think I can even win a point against you!'_ She wanted to add.

Ryoma sighed. "I'm done. It's individual practice now - and that's a stupid question. Why can't I practice with you? You've improved your tennis, right?"

Her mouth formed an _'o'_ as she slowly nodded in understanding before the rest of his words dawned on her. _'Is Ryoma-kun trying to tell me that I'm good enough to be his rallying partner? Or I'm good enough to be his practice dummy?'_

"Are you going to stand there all day?"

She jolted in surprise, then she frantically grabbed the ball from the ground and dusted it off. She returned her attention back to Ryoma and nodded at him, "I-I'm good."

"Hn. About time," he said with a smirk.

Sakuno took a deep breath, trying to internalize with herself and forget that Ryoma was her opponent. She exhaled and threw the ball in the air and hit it as hard as she could.

"Hm, I didn't know you can serve a ball that hard, do it more frequently," he nonchalantly said as he ran for the ball and hit it with a loud grunt.

Her eyes widened in surprise and her jaw slackened. It was the first time that Ryoma ran for a ball that she hit. _'Did I...manage to improve that much since the last time he taught me?'_

"Heads up, Ryuzaki," Ryoma called out. Sakuno immediately relaxed her stance, and with determination coursing through her, she hit the ball back to Ryoma harder than she did before.

He smirked at her, "Nice. Brace yourself, I'll hit it harder this time."

The ball echoed against their rackets as she and Ryoma rallied without pause. Sakuno was drenched in sweat, but the smile on her lips was that of satisfaction. _'It felt great to play tennis with Ryoma-kun. I never imagined that I could ever rally with him this long...I guess, all my hard work paid off.'_

As she and Ryoma continued playing, memories of her begging their senpais to help her with tennis floated through her mind, staying late at night to watch all of her grandma and mom's old games. All the scrapes and sweats, the twisted ankle and shaking fingers had resulted in... _this_. She was finally able to rally with Ryoma. She felt like she was flying.

"Ryoma-kun!" she called out as she hit the ball back to him.

"Hm?" he hummed as he bent and caught the ball.

"I want to try playing singles," she muttered as her amber eyes stared straight at Ryoma's surprised, golden eyes. The ball flew back to her direction and she hit it back. Ryoma stayed silent.

"I've barely managed to make it to regular in middle school because of your help, but I always play doubles. I'm always a support."

Ryoma grunted as he hit the ball back to her. "So you wanted to try playing alone?" he finally replied.

Her eyes hardened, "I want to play in the court without depending on anyone but myself." The ball flew back to Ryoma.

Finally, he smirked. "You need to work on your self-confidence, then. The District tournament is a month from now. Your goal is to win a regular spot for the next ranking game, and you have to play spectacularly for them to put you in singles."

Sakuno smiled, "Un!" she nodded before she caught the ball.

"Heh, considering you improved enough, I don't see why not," he said with a smirk.

Her smile turned into a big grin. "Then, would you help me, Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma blinked in astonishment as he hit the ball back to her, then his lips crept into a teasing smile. "Hm...come to think of it, Ryuzaki-sensei will probably end up dumping your clumsy self on me later. So I don't really have a choice."

Sakuno's whole face burned. "Ryoma-kun!" she yelled and unconsciously hit the ball back to him much harder than she intended to with all the embarrassment and irritation she was feeling.

The ball rocketed back to Ryoma's direction and hit the wall behind him before it bounced and rolled on his feet.

A deafening silence reigned on them as Sakuno stared in disbelief at the innocent tennis ball at the Tennis Prince's feet.

Ryoma blinked in bewilderment at the event that had transpired.

Finally able to register what happened, Sakuno clutched his former racket to her chest like a lifeline. "E-EEEEHH!"

As if she wasn't shocked enough, Sakuno felt like having a heart attack as Ryoma suddenly burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard he was clutching his side with his racket still in his hand.

Sakuno gaped at him.

"I–" He wheezed, "I guess y-you can win i-if you get angry enough!" Ryoma continued to laugh, barely able to finish his sentence.

Sakuno's face felt like a furnace. "Ryoma-kun, you meanie!"

The sun set as Sakuno stood in front of Ryoma, fuming in embarrassment and irritation while he continued to tease and taunt her even on their way back to her house for their English lesson.

_'I didn't know Ryoma-kun could be so mischievous. Mou, so confusing!'_

_**To Be Continued...** _

* * *

**_SyrinxSilenus_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Girigiri by Sonar Pocket is the opening song of World Trigger, one of my favorite anime. I want to inform you guys that I'll be using different anime songs for Sakuno's playlists. Of course, there will be POT songs too. The Wedding Dance is a short story written by Amador T. Daguio. We actually did I stage play of that when I was still in senior high school so I used it. Chapter 4 will be published right after this.
> 
> Thank you to all my beta readers!
> 
> to2llyuntraceable, o0CrimsonsDragon0o, Stacy Donnely, Black angel in love


	4. Chapter 4: Storms of Feelings

PLEASE PLEASE READ AND GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TEASER STORY AFTER THIS CHAPTER.

 _Italics_ \+ **Bold** words are dialogues spoken in English: **"RyoSaku forever and ever…"**

* * *

**~Four~**

**Storms of Feelings**

_**"Rika and Kaori (is or are) climbing down the stairs."** _

_**"Umm, are?"** _

Ryoma put down the notebook that he was reading and stared blankly at the girl sweatdropping in front of him.

"Ryuzaki, you need to give me a direct answer, not answer me with another question," he said with an arched brow.

"Y-yes, I'm sorry," she said before she ducked her head.

Ryoma sighed. "Relax, I'm not a teacher so it's okay to give the wrong answer. That's why we're studying," he said, stretching one of his numb legs under the small table in between him and Ryuzaki.

"O-okay…" she mumbled.

Today was Saturday and they were, once again, sitting on Ryuzaki's bedroom floor as they went through another English lesson. It had been two weeks since the accident with Karupin happened, and today was his sixth day of tutoring.

She wasn't that bad if only she didn't stutter and hesitate with her answers all the damn time. She also needed a dose of self-confidence to ask a question if she had one. The paper wouldn't give her an answer no matter how hard she stared at it.

Ryoma looked at her for a few seconds in contemplation, _'Should I explain in detail, or continue watching her intense staring contest with her notebook?'_ He sighed and started writing.

"Ryuzaki, in order for you to know what's the correct _**linking verb**_ to use, you need to identify the subject in the sentence first. The _**linking verb** _is the one that connects the subject to the rest of the sentence. For example…" he trailed off as he finished writing on the notebook. He stood up to sit beside the girl and put the notebook on the table.

"Look at this sentence," Ryoma said as he pointed the pen at one of the sentences he wrote.

Ryuzaki moved her head to look at the sentence and read it out loud.

 _ **"Horio is annoying,"**_ she slowly read in English.

Ryoma noticed that her pronunciation needed a lot of work but that would do for now. _'She doesn't need to speak during the test anyway.'_ He heard her suddenly giggle and he raised an eyebrow in question.

"You just happened to pick Horio's name, Ryoma-kun?" she said, a hand covering her mouth.

"He's _**annoying**_ ," he deadpanned, which caused her to giggle again. Ryoma felt the corner of his lips twitch, but he immediately rearranged his face into its usual indifference.

"Point out the subject," he instructed.

Ryuzaki picked up her own pen and encircled Horio's name.

"Underline the word that described Horio," he flatly stated.

Ryuzaki obediently followed his instruction and underlined the word _**annoying**_.

Ryoma picked up his pen and put a double line under the is.

"As you can see, _**'is'** _is connecting the subject to the rest of the sentence. Which is why it's called, _**linking verb**_ ," Ryoma finished and gazed at Ryuzaki as she nodded her head.

"Try doing the same thing to the rest of the examples. Identify the _**linking verbs**_ ," he said while propping his elbow on the table and resting his cheek on his palm.

"Okay, Ryoma-kun."

As Sakuno began to work, Ryoma let his eyes roam around the room, pausing on the calendar atop her side table. He noticed a particular date encircled with a red pen, and Ryoma squinted his eyes a bit to read the little scribbles inside the small box.

_'Monday, English exam. Fight-O! Sakuno!'_

His lips twitched in amusement as he noticed a little caricature of herself drawn beside the scribbles.

He couldn't help but remember the tennis ball he asked to have from her just before he flew back to America during their first year in middle school. She also drew a small caricature of himself on it, and it was still in his possession after all this time. It was safely hidden underneath his bed inside a box, together with another tennis ball he got from her with a 'No. 1 _in National'_ written on it.

His eyes shifted again and zeroed in on the numerous pictures plastered on her bedroom wall. He smirked. _'Girls are sentimental.'_

His mother kept hundreds of his childhood pictures on five, thick albums. All of them looked so ridiculous that he tried to bury them a couple of times in their backyard, but for some reason, the albums kept on returning to the shelf the next morning. One time he tried to burn them but his mother caught him.

Ryoma suppressed the shiver that involuntarily crawled up his spine as he remembered the terrifying expression his mother had made when she caught him red-handed. He was forced to eat western food for two weeks and was forbidden to practice tennis with his father for a week. A week! Imagine the agony! After that, Ryoma stopped his criminal attempt against the cursed albums.

His mom was sentimental, Nanako was sentimental, and now, he found out Ryuzaki was too. So, he could safely conclude that all females were sentimental beings. No one could tell him otherwise.

Ryoma vaguely ignored the small voice reminding him of the box hidden underneath his bed. He wasn't sentimental. No. He just… wanted to make sure that his valuables wouldn't suddenly disappear because his perverted father decided to be nosy.

"Ryoma-kun?"

He snapped out of his thoughts at Ryuzaki's timid voice.

"I'm done…" she murmured, sliding her notebook in front of him.

Ryoma checked the girl's answers with an arched brow. "Heh, not bad. Just review our past lessons, and you're ready for the exam."

Ryuzaki smiled at him. "It's all thanks to Ryoma-kun's help."

"It's nothing." He immediately waved her off and returned his elbow back on top of the table. He rested his cheek on his palm before he noticed her fidgeting on her seat.

Being in Ryuzaki's company for two weeks straight, Ryoma already figured some of the meanings behind her confusing actions. This one meant she was struggling to say something to him, so he waited patiently for her to spit it out.

"Umm, this is our final lesson Ryoma-kun. I'll just reread all the notes you've written for me tomorrow, and I'll be fine on Monday," she told him softly, staring briefly at him before she looked down at her lap.

Ryoma frowned, he just couldn't understand why she was still acting shy around him. "I guess…" he mumbled.

"Ryoma-kun. Thank you so much for all your help." She looked up and gazed into his eyes.

He suddenly felt uncomfortable. _'Her eyes...since when did they become so distracting to look at? And her lips are small, but... they're naturally pink.'_ Ryoma realized then, that he had been staring. All of a sudden, his body started feeling feverish. His ears and neck felt hot, and to his horror, his cheeks were too. He shifted uneasily.

"If it weren't for you, I'd probably flunk English again," she muttered.

Ryoma turned his face to the side. "D-Don't sell yourself short. You worked hard too," he paused, clearing his throat before he lifted his gaze back at her. "...and thank me once you have passed the test."

She smiled softly again, and Ryoma was taken aback by the sudden gentleness in her eyes. He unconsciously clenched his fist as a foreign feeling welled up in him. His stomach was doing flips, and to his mortification, his heart started beating abnormally again.

 _'The hell! Why does this keep happening? I'm definitely going to ask mom about this. I can't afford to have any sort of heart disease now.'_ It wasn't happening frequently. There were just times that it went like this. It happened more than thrice now, and it normally occurred whenever he was around Ryuzaki.

He still didn't know what was triggering it, but something in him was urging him to haul his ass back home right about now. Deciding to follow his intuition, he reached out to grab his cap on top of the small table and put it securely on his head to hide his eyes.

"Ne, I'm going. See you on Monday," he said, acting calmly while hastily putting all his things back inside his tennis bag.

"Umm, you don't want to eat anything before you go?" Ryoma stopped zipping his bag and looked up to blink at her. _'I forgot, I usually eat here whenever I tutor her.'_ At the thought of his favorite food, he forgot the reason why he was hurrying to go home in the first place.

"Let's go?" he asked uncertainly instead of demanding it like he originally intended to.

"Somewhere else?" asked Ryuzaki, confused. "Like… to a restaurant? T-The t-two of us?" Her face turned so red that she was slowly starting to resemble a tomato.

Ryoma tilted his head to the side, puzzled. "Oi, you're red. Are you sick?"

She jerked and started waving her hands in denial. "N-No! Don't mind me! So what do you mean, Ryoma-kun? Do y-you want to eat outside?"

He was still a bit skeptical but decided to shrug it off. "Why do we need to go out, stupid? I'd rather eat your cooking than those fancy restaurants," he mumbled.

For some reason, the redness of her face deepened and crawled up from her neck to her ears. He couldn't help but wonder how far the redness could reach, and...' _Is that steam coming out of her head?'_

His lips twitched. _'Cute…'_ He blinked and pulled the bill of his hat over his eyes.

"Un!" Ryuzaki rapidly stood up, almost tripping in her haste to open her bedroom door.

She marched rigidly to the kitchen, refusing to speak or even look back as he followed her.

If he went home without eating here, he wouldn't have a choice but to eat his mom's cooking. It wasn't as if he hated his mom's cooking, but she liked western food more than Japanese food, and Ryoma wasn't a big fan of it.

'I'm staying because I don't like western food. It's for the food...it's for the–' He abruptly stopped his train of thoughts. Why did he sound so defensive all of a sudden? It was not as if he was doing something unusual. Ever since he started tutoring Ryuzaki, he'd eaten dinner here. It was a hotdog with rice vs. grilled fish, and Chawan Mushi, plus Ebi Senbei all together, of course, he would choose the latter!

For a time, they ate in companionable silence, silence which he'd become very used to in her presence. Actually, it was what he liked about her company. The silence that he rarely got in school, in the tennis club, and at home because of his noisy father, was freely given to him. That was why he preferred her more than his crazy senpais. Sometimes, they were tiring to be around.

"Ryoma-kun, here." He looked up and saw a can of Ponta in Ryuzaki's hand. He didn't realize that she had stood up to grab one from the fridge.

"Thanks," he muttered as he accepted the can from her. It was Grape Ponta, his favorite. Ryoma arched a brow, _'Since when did she start storing Ponta in their fridge?'_

He glanced out the window, it was getting late, and it was raining quite heavily.

He frowned. "Ryuzaki-sensei isn't home yet."

Ryuzaki thoughtfully looked up and put a finger on her cheek. "Umm...she probably has some paperwork to finish. She'll be home soon."

He shifted his gaze back to the dark sky. Lightning struck, immediately followed by a booming sound of thunder and an ear-piercing shriek from Ryuzaki left his ears ringing.

He jolted in surprise, and then everything was dark.

The loud pouring of the rain echoed inside the house with the sound of the ferocious winds.

His brows furrowed in worry and he abruptly stood up, his chair clattering loudly. "Ryuzaki."

He tried to look for her silhouette in the darkness, but for some reason, she wasn't where she was standing before.

The lightning struck again, momentarily chasing the darkness away, followed by the crackling of thunder.

She let out another scream.

"Ryuzaki!" he called out, a touch of alarm lacing his voice as he heard her start to sob.

It was the first time Ryoma heard her scream like that, and it seriously frightened him. Her sobs were getting closer to hysterics.

_'What's happening to her?'_

He fished for his phone in his pocket and turned the flashlight on to look for the girl. He rounded the table and saw her on the floor, shivering in fright as she covered her ears with her hands while she tried to curl up into a ball.

The thunder roared again, and Ryuzaki let out another scream. Big droplets of tears were rolling down her cheeks like waterfalls, and she was gasping for breath as if she wasn't getting enough oxygen in her lungs.

He began to panic. _'What should I do?'_ He didn't have any experience with comforting girls. Ryoma practically avoided them like a plague. Aside from his mother and cousin, Ryuzaki was the only girl he actually interacted with–Osakada didn't count.

He was at a loss. He warily crouched in front of her.

"Oi, Ryuzaki," he awkwardly tried to call out, but it seemed she hadn't heard him as her body continued to shake.

Ryoma hesitantly stretched out a hand, and lightly squeezed her shoulder when the thunder crashed again.

And suddenly, Ryuzaki jumped him. She launched herself into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck like a vice grip. He could never have braced himself. They tumbled to the floor, his back slamming against the table on the way down. His phone clattered beside him.

"T-That hurts…" He winced and sat up, Ryuzaki almost on his lap.

"Ryuzaki," he called out, but it was as if she hadn't heard him. She buried her face in his chest as her body quivered. Her hands clutched his shirt so tightly, Ryoma was afraid she would tear it. His mother would surely scold him for this later.

The warmth that he felt earlier started devouring his senses more strongly than ever, and he involuntarily took a sharp intake of breath. The scent of strawberry with a touch of vanilla invaded his nostrils, making him feel hypnotized.

His senses unconsciously sought out more of the honeyed fragrance, making him lower his nose closer to where the scent was stronger–Ryuzaki's hair. Ryoma inhaled more of her smell, lost in a sea of foreign sensation.

He didn't know what he was doing, or why he was doing it. All that he was aware of was her surprisingly sweet scent, and her small body touching his. The word soft suddenly came to his mind.

Abruptly, his ears blocked out anything but her sobs and heavy breathing. The loud beating of the rain outside disappeared from the background. There was no time, no wind, no crackling of thunder. There was only the touch of her body and the warmth that she emanated.

It was surprisingly soothing.

Slowly, Ryoma's arms moved on their own and cautiously wrapped around her quivering form while he felt her tears soak his shirt. To his bewilderment, he actually didn't mind this at all. His right hand patted her head while his left tightened around her waist.

Ryoma didn't understand what was happening to him, and he actually didn't want to think anything at all. All he knew at the moment was that… he liked this feeling. He wanted to stay in her warmth much longer.

His mouth opened to call out, "Ryuza–" Her hands tightened on his shirt as a particularly loud clap of thunder brought him back to reality.

The girl in his arms whimpered, and Ryoma unconsciously tightened his hold around her.

As if to seek more of his comfort, Ryuzaki buried her face in the crook of his neck with his right hand supporting the back of her head, her body flushed against him. He could feel her warm breath fanning his skin, and his body was frantically turning as hot as a furnace.

All of a sudden, an involuntary shiver crawled up his spine, and his hold tightened around her.

"Ryuz–" Somehow, it suddenly felt so wrong to call her Ryuzaki now. Ryoma frowned, gripping her waist tighter as she kept on shivering and sobbing uncontrollably.

_'I need to help her somehow, but how?'_

He licked his surprisingly dry lips and opened his mouth once again. "S-Sa-Saku..no," he whispered. Her name suddenly felt so heavy in his tongue. He was answered by a quiet whimper.

_'I should...say something...something to distract her–'_

"I never won a single match against my father," he carefully said.

He hesitated for a moment, but her shaking hands urged him to continue. "I challenged him every day, demanding him to take me seriously, but he was just toying with me." Ryoma wasn't a fan of sharing his inner thoughts, but for some reason, he kept going.

"The old man was having the time of his life seeing me suffer. I told myself every single time, 'I'll make him eat dust the next time we play.'" He took a deep breath as he leaned his head on the table's leg.

"The truth is, I'm always afraid that I won't be able to defeat him, and that I need to try much harder. People say that I'm a shadow of my father. For a long time, I was afraid that I would never be able to leave his shadow."

Sakuno's shivering stopped, and the sobs quieted down. It was then that Ryoma realized that he was rubbing his hand on her back, unconsciously trying to soothe her fears. Sniffling was heard as she slowly moved her face away from his soaked collar to finally look at him.

"But then again...I managed it somehow, although I still haven't been able to beat my old man, I am now my own person. I already found my own tennis, and soon...I will be able to beat him once and for all."

Their eyes met, and without breaking eye contact, he continued.

"All I'm saying is, everyone has their own fears. Even I have them." He paused, contemplating. "Actually...I have many of them. But each one that I overcome helps strengthen me. You have to do the same."

This was probably the longest he had ever talked, and he probably didn't even know what the hell he was saying anymore, but he continued anyway. What else could he do?

"If...you're not strong enough to do it on your own, you have to be strong enough to let others help," he finished.

He could feel the quivering of her hands starting to lessen as she looked straight at his eyes for the longest time since meeting each other.

"I-I…" began Sakuno.

Lightning struck again, illuminating the darkened kitchen for a brief moment followed by the booming thunder. Sakuno whimpered and tears gathered in the corner of her eyes.

Acting on impulse, Ryoma covered her ears with his hands and gently guided her face up to look back at him.

"You're what?" he asked, gently coaxing her body to lean more on him while not breaking eye contact.

"I…can't express myself," she said, barely above a whisper.

Involuntarily, his thumbs stroked the sides of her face, encouraging her to continue.

"I-I'm afraid of...getting close to people..."

"Why?" he asked.

"B-Be-because I don't want to offend anyone." Ryoma frowned. He knew that she had always been shy, but it looked like it wasn't just as simple as he thought.

"Why?" he repeated patiently.

"B-because...if I do something wrong, t-they...they will leave me too, and I will be alone again. I don't want to lose anyone. I'm always afraid that people will hate me. I d-don't want to make a mistake, but I always...always fail." Tears leaked out of her eyes as she blinked and Ryoma unconsciously wiped them with his thumbs.

"I want to express myself more…I want to do better, but I still fail, and sometimes, I wonder...when will Grandma get sick of me, when will Tomo-chan find a b-better, more confident friend than me, when will the senpais stop talking to me, and w-when will...Ryoma-kun stops acknowledging my exis–tence."

The last part of her sentence was barely audible for anyone to hear, but their close proximity and his keen ears made it clear to him. She tried to look down, but his hold on her was firm. He refused to let her shy away again.

"I...would never do that."

Her eyes widened at the same time as his. He didn't know why he said that, it just came out of his mouth before he could even think of anything to say, and yet Sakuno did not scramble away. Instead, she let her head fall softly against his chest. Ryoma decided then, that perhaps it was worth letting his mother scold him for the shirt.

Time was forgotten. The darkness continued to engulf the whole house, and the only source of light was coming from Ryoma's phone. Nothing seemed to matter.

"R-Ryo–" A loud boom interrupted her, and the last syllable of his name turned into a shriek of, "–maaa!" Her fingers twisted his shirt, and the shivering returned.

Unexpectedly, his chest rumbled and a chuckle escaped his lips. He placed his face on her shoulder to hide his expression.

Sakuno whimpered and clenched his shirt. "W-Why a-are y-you l-laughing?" she asked as she slowly lifted her head, but another roar of thunder moved her back to her previous position.

Suppressing the sudden urge to nuzzle her neck, he lifted his face from her shoulder to look down at her. "Heh...you just screamed my name without honorifics, Sakuno."

She let out a cute squeak and met his eyes. Through the small light coming from his phone, and with the help of his sharp vision, Ryoma could see the redness surrounding her face.

"I-I...I'm s-sorry...I–" Another roar of thunder, and she squealed as she ducked her head, her trembling hands covering her face.

Ryoma couldn't help but smile as he moved her head back to its previous position with a small sound of surprise coming from her throat.

"I'm not complaining, it's just surprising coming from you," he poked her forehead, "I didn't know you could scream like that," he teased as his lips stretched into his signature smirk. He could practically feel her face burn in embarrassment.

"R-Ryoma-k-kun, it was an accident, the thunder…"

"Heh, I think it sounds better," he said, smirking faintly.

Sakuno sighed, "You're teasing again."

"Che."

She let out a little laugh which made him smile a bit. However, he could still see the tiny quivers in her hands, and body.

Ryoma frowned. _'This isn't just a normal kind of fear.'_

"Sakuno...do you have–" Before he could finish his question though, his phone started ringing. He picked it up from the floor and squinted his eyes from the sudden brightness of the screen.

 _'Ryuzaki-sensei?'_ He immediately answered the call while his left arm remained secure around Sakuno.

Before he could greet his old coach though, she started talking. _"Ryoma, do not, under any circumstances, leave Sakuno's side."_

Ryoma blinked in surprise as he looked down at the girl in his arms. "She's here with me," he said.

There was an exhale of relief on the other line. _"I'm sorry Ryoma. I know this is too much to ask from you, but I can't leave the school in this weather. I'll be sleeping here in the office, and forced to wait until the storm stops. Can you keep Sakuno company till then?"_

"I can't actually go home in this weather, sensei, and Sakuno didn't stop shivering since the thunder started." He frowned as another loud clap of thunder echoed outside, and she whimpered.

Ryoma shifted as he tightened his hold around her and soothingly rubbed her back to ease her fear.

 _"That's what I was afraid of,"_ Ryuzaki-sensei's voice was laced with worry and Ryoma couldn't contain himself from asking anymore.

"Childhood trauma?" he guessed.

Ryuzaki-sensei sighed. _"Yes. It's from an accident she was involved in when she was eight, it's not my place to say more. If she trusts you enough, then she'll open up."_

Ryoma contemplated the information, _'An accident, huh. What kind of accident could result in such fear in thunder?'_ He tightened his hold around Sakuno, and much to his relief, he noticed that she was already fast asleep. Her breaths were finally even, and her body relaxed.

"I usually sleep with her during storms such as this, and tightly shut the windows and doors around the house, but I'm not there with her now so I'm worried. She just needs to fall asleep," Ryuzaki-sensei said.

"She's asleep now," he said, stroking her head with his hand.

"Oh...that's surprising. She usually spends hours crying before she tires herself out."

Ryoma grunted as his eyes continued to trail on her curled form, the heat of her body easing him.

"Ryoma…"

"Sensei?" he answered absentmindedly.

"Are you hugging my granddaughter right now?"

Startled beyond belief, he jerked in surprise as heat exploded from his neck up to his whole face and ears.

"Ah...I–s-she jumped me first!" he stuttered. Suddenly, he was tempted to bang his head multiple times on the wall.

Ryuzaki-sensei chuckled on the other line. "I entrust my granddaughter to you, Ryoma. Don't take advantage of her vulnerability."

"I won't! Sakuno's my friend. I would never..." he gritted his teeth in irritation. He sounded defensive even to his own ears. _'Damn it!'_

Ryuzaki-sensei mischievously cackled. Ryoma didn't like the sound of it at all.

"Since when did you start calling her Sakuno?" her teasing voice itched in his ears, and his frown deepened. However, he was promptly frozen as his old coach's question finally registered to him.

_'S-Since when did I start calling her by her first name?'_

Ryoma wasn't aware. He didn't even realize it.

The tip of his ears burned more than ever and he clenched his jaw. "Am I not allowed to?" he gritted out.

Ryuzaki-sensei chuckled again. "She's your friend, right? It's alright if she let you."

Ryoma nodded his head, finally able to put his confusion and panic at rest.

_'Right, she's one of my closest friends after all.'_

–Only to be utterly shattered by Ryuzaki-sensei's next statement.

"The question is… do you only want her to be your friend?"

Ryoma stiffened. _'What?'_ Much to his horror, his heart started beating fast again, and his hands turned clammy.

He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, and briefly closed his eyes to calm himself. He hoped to Kami-sama that his voice sounded as nonchalant as he intended to. "I don't know what you mean, sensei. Stop spouting nonsense, and just call my old man to inform them of my whereabouts."

"Of course. Take care of her, Ryoma," Ryuzaki-sensei said softly.

Ryoma suddenly forgot about all the teasing his old coach did as he remembered how frightened Sakuno was earlier.

"I'll put her in her bed," he said, indirectly asking for permission.

The coach hummed in agreement. "Go to the room next to Sakuno's. I put my son's clothes in the cabinet there. Don't worry, it's clean. Just choose something to sleep in. There's also an extra futon, pillow and comforter there."

"Got it." He nodded even though Ryuzaki-sensei couldn't see it.

"Remember, Ryoma. I entrust my granddaughter to you," There was a warning in her voice, and Ryoma snorted.

"I'm not my father, sensei."

Ryuzaki-sensei laughed. "Prove it, kid. I'll go now."

"Che. You don't have to tell me." He replied, pursing his lips in distaste.

"Hmp, cheeky brat," she muttered before the line went dead.

Ryoma exhaled and sat there motionless for a few seconds when the light abruptly returned. He blinked his eyes at the sudden brightness and looked down at Sakuno as she shifted in discomfort. The rain continued to mercilessly pour outside along with the howling wind, and the crackling of thunder.

He sighed before he proceeded to lift the girl in his arms. It was a good thing that her body was light. He didn't have any trouble getting her up to her bedroom and onto her bed.

Ryoma gently lay the girl on the soft sheet, taking care not to jolt her awake as he cushioned her head with a pillow. He covered her body with a blanket before he went to the next room to do as Ryuzaki-sensei had instructed.

Grabbing a simple white shirt and black shorts, Ryoma entered Sakuno's bathroom to take a much-needed shower. He needed to clear his head for a bit.

He leaned his forehead on the cold tiled wall as the hot water continued to rain down on him from the showerhead.

He really couldn't understand himself. How did this turn into something complicated? Just what the hell was he thinking earlier?

Just then, the memory of him inhaling Sakuno's strawberry-vanilla scented hair invaded his already confused mind.

Ryoma's head met the wall hard this time, leaving a stinging feeling on his rapidly burning skin. "Argh! Damn it!"

_"I want to express myself more... sometimes, I wonder...w-when will...Ryoma-kun stops acknowledging my exis–tence."_

_"I...would never do that."_

His voice echoed through his ears, repeating like a broken disc.

_'Why did I say that?'_

Just who was Ryuzaki Sakuno to him? Would he ever do the same thing if this happened with another girl? Like, Osakada, or Tachibana-san's sister? Would he make an effort to comfort them? Would he...hug them too?

Just then, an image of him trying to comfort a crying Osakada, snot, and tears all over her messed up face came to him. However, he couldn't even picture himself coming a foot near her.

_'No. There's just no way!'_

With Tachibana-san's sister. _"You're being weird, stop crying."_ He could practically hear how flat his own voice sounded.

He shook his head, _'No, I'll probably sleep while the girl cries, or just stare off the distance. Why do I even care? It's not my problem.'_

Then, what made Ryuzaki Sakuno different? Just...why?

As if his mind was trying to prove something to him, he thought of Sakuno giving him Ponta, a gentle smile on her face, and his whole body's temperature increased along with his heartbeat.

Flustered and utterly distracted, he hadn't realized that his grip on the shower handle increased, and before he knew it, cold water was already raining on him.

Ryoma yelped in surprise.

Unprepared for the sudden change of temperature, the icy water painfully pierced through him like a thousand needles, and his previously hot skin turned to frozen cold.

He stepped out of the shower shivering after torturing himself for three minutes under the freezing water. He immediately changed into his borrowed clothes and put his laundry inside the automatic washing machine to wash and dry for tomorrow. He then trekked back to the room next door and pulled out the extra futon.

He contemplated whether he should just sleep in this room or back in Sakuno's for a moment before remembering Ryuzaki-sensei's request. Sighing tiredly, Ryoma went back to her room and arranged the futon.

After a few seconds, he finally sat down on the soft sheet to stare at the sleeping girl. With his sharp vision, he was able to see the girl's face amidst the surrounding darkness. It was then he realized that he hadn't even finished his dinner or even took a sip on his can of Ponta.

Ryoma narrowed his eyes at her, "Che, such a troublesome girl."

* * *

The early morning was calm after the rain. Rays of golden sunlight streamed through the curtains, and there was no sign of the previous storm, except for the raindrops bubbling against the window. And yet, daybreak offered Ryoma no comfort.

Echizen Ryoma, the famous Tennis Prince of Seishun Gakuen, who considered sleeping as one of his favorite past times, hadn't slept a wink since laying down that night. His mind had mercilessly tortured him until the sun rose up the sky, and the clock read 6:30 am.

Ryoma knew, without looking at any mirror that he looked utterly miserable.

Rising from the supposed-to-be-comfortable futon, Ryoma dazedly stood up and returned the futon back to its original place. He robotically went towards the bathroom to wash his face and looked at the stranger staring back at him in the mirror.

His face was as pale as a paper. Dark circles surrounded his cat-like eyes, and his dark, blue-green hair was sticking in odd directions more than usual. Ryoma glared at his own reflection before he grabbed his previous clothes from the washer, already dry and ready to use.

He placed his borrowed clothes in the washer before he put on his own clothes. After making sure that he hadn't left any mess inside the bathroom, Ryoma went back to Sakuno's room to look for his tennis bag.

As he roamed his eyes around the room, he caught a glimpse of the subject of his thoughts all night long, sleeping like a log even after the previously chaotic night.

As if having a mind of their own, his traitorous feet brought him to the side of her bed and found himself staring at her sleeping form. He watched as her chest rose and fell with each breath she took. Her long, auburn, twin-braided hair was splayed across the pillow.

She barely seemed to move while she rested. She was like a baby, slumbering deeply, oblivious to the chaos she had caused him all night long. She wasn't snoring, sleep-talking, or making any sort of noise; she was as quiet now as she was awake (not counting yesterday, of course).

Ryoma stretched out a hand and touched her forehead with his pointing finger. Suppressing the urge to flick her, he pursed his lips.

"Stupid Sakuno, because of you, I didn't get a wink of sleep." He glared at her. "Che. Do your best tomorrow," he finally said as he removed his finger from her, and proceeded to go downstairs.

He went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and caught sight of his tennis bag and his fila hat lying beside one of the table's legs.

 _'So that's where I left them,'_ he mused as he downed the water on the glass in one gulp.

Ryoma found himself unconsciously staring at the place he and Sakuno sat last night, and the memory of him embracing her from the same place flashed through his mind at the sight of the table.

He felt his whole face burn, and he furiously shook his head as he placed the glass in the sink. Hastily grabbing his bag and hat from the floor, he caught sight of his can of Ponta, left forgotten under the table.

 _'Bingo.'_ He grabbed it without hesitation, eager to douse himself with his favorite drink to help clear his head. He walked out of the kitchen while opening the can in his hand and went towards the front door, not wanting to stay another minute inside this house. He put on his shoes in a hurry and opened the door while sipping on his Ponta...

Only for Ryuzaki-sensei's face to greet him.

Ryoma almost spits the Ponta out of his mouth and into Ryuzaki-sensei's face. He slapped a hand to his mouth, the liquid instead dribbling down his chin.

"Oh, Ryoma… you're up early," his former coach said.

He wasn't able to reply. He was busy slamming a hand on his chest as he violently coughed, trying to breathe normally again.

Ryuzaki-sensei stood there, watching in amusement as he choked to death.

 _'Damn, stupid Ponta!'_ Never in his life, Ryoma thought he would one day curse his beloved beverage, but here he was.

After his coughing fit settled down, he looked back at his trying-not-to-laugh-but-failing-miserably Ryuzaki-sensei.

His eye twitched.

Attempting a nonchalant expression, he cooly put his fila hat on top of his head.

"Chisu," he greeted in a flat voice, "I'm going now, sensei." With a hand holding the bill of his hat, he bowed his head a little and proceeded to walk past his old coach.

"Hm. Your eyebags are pretty thick, weren't you able to sleep properly?" Ryoma froze in his tracks, and silently cursed his stupid eyebags.

He pulled on the bill of his hat much harder. "Che."

Ryuzaki-sensei laughed at his typical response. "I see, my granddaughter caused you a lot of trouble last night. I apologize on her behalf."

Ryoma frowned and twisted his body to look at Ryuzaki-sensei, only to see her eyes twinkling with glee. He scowled and drifted his eyes to the side, eyeing the innocent-looking bushes.

"Not really…" he denied, eyes refusing to look back at the old woman's face.

Ryuzaki-sensei laughed again and shook her head. "Thank you for taking care of my granddaughter, Ryoma. Go home safely."

Nodding slightly, Ryoma muttered a simple, "Osu," before he calmly continued his walk towards his home.

When he was a distance away from his old coach's house though, he sprinted towards his house as if Inui-senpai was hot on his tail with his special deluxe juice in hand.

_**To Be Continued...** _

* * *

**A/N:** Let me know your thoughts about this chapter guys, and please read the teaser story below, I wanted to know if people like to read this kind of plot.

* * *

_**A Heartbreak That Leads Back To You** _

Written by: **_SyrinxSilenus_**

 **Summary** : 8 years ago, Ryoma rejected Sakuno and returned to America the next day. After years of separation, she never thought of meeting him again during the worst moment of her life. In front of a love hotel as she stalked her cheating fiancé 2 months before their wedding. Fate was probably having fun playing her life.

**Rated M**

**Disclaimer** : Prince of Tennis is owned by **Takeshi Konomi** , I own nothing but my Ocs.

* * *

Sakuno never thought after eight years of not seeing him, she would meet him again in the most unexpected way, during the worst moment of her life.

She could still remember how hopelessly in love she was with the Tennis Prince, Ryoma Echizen. Since meeting him for the first time, on that train where he accidentally saved her, she was hopelessly drawn to him. She followed him everywhere like a well-trained puppy and her eyes never left his person. She always wanted to see him, to be with him. For three years of her middle school life, she loved him.

She painstakingly hoped that one day, he would realize her worth and reciprocate her feelings, but no. She was just a stupid girl who was too far gone with her fantasies to realize the glaring truth.

Sakuno could still remember that day, all those years ago during their middle school graduation. She had swallowed all of her shyness and pushed herself to confess to him, hoping to all the gods in the world that he wouldn't reject her and that he also felt the same way towards her.

She felt special because he ate all the lunch boxes she made him and accepted the chocolates she had given him every Valentine's Day. He only accepted her chocolate, not his fangirls and not even Tomo-chan's. So she hoped; but deep down she knew that she was only deluding herself to avoid the pain, to avoid the thought of his heartless rejection, yet she pushed that assumption to the back of her mind.

She hadn't thought of the possibility that maybe he accepted her chocolate because she had given each member of the tennis team one. Maybe he accepted the lunches that she cooked for him because she shared her food with his fellow teammates, with Horio and the others to be precise. Maybe he tolerated her presence because she was their coach's granddaughter.

Those possibilities were so far from her mind.

So she confessed to him, and it was a very grave mistake. She could still vividly remember the words that she blurted out.

"R-Ryoma-kun, I-I…I l-like you. I have for a long time now."

She thought that she was special, she thought she had a chance, but a simple sentence made it all clear to her.

"I'm sorry, but I have more important things to do than play romance with you," he said, eyes were hidden by his Fila visor. He turned his back on her with a hand in his pocket and quietly left the rooftop, leaving her to wallow in her sorrow after his painful rejection.

Sakuno knew all along, no matter how much she tried to dismiss it, that Ryoma Echizen had a dream, and that dream was his priority in life. Not even she, an insignificant female who assumed that she had a special place in his heart, could fit herself in.

The next day after graduation, she found out from her grandmother that Ryoma flew back to America to fulfill his dream, and that was the last time Sakuno had seen him. She cried for countless nights and blamed herself for assuming things on her own–for thinking that she was special because he treated her a bit differently from his fangirls.

The thought of Ryoma's rejection consumed her for many days and nights. She felt like she wouldn't be able to live a normal life again. It was suffocating. Living a life without Ryoma, without seeing him and feeling his presence. She didn't realize it, but she grew dependent on him. Now she didn't know what to do with herself. She thought she wouldn't be able to survive the heartache.

Thankfully, after two years of trying to move on and with all the help of her two best friends, An and Tomoka, she managed to pull herself back again and learned to live a life without Ryoma on her mind.

She went to high school and focused on her studies. For three years she didn't entertain any of her suitors. She promised herself that she didn't need a man in her life, and so, she graduated high school and went to university to study fine arts.

A year into college, she met a man. His name was Kei Yamamura. The two of them met in an explosion of books and pens in front of the library and it was then that a new cycle in her life started. Kei's appearance in her life was as abrupt as Ryoma's, yet less complicated than him. She could still remember their first meeting as clear as day. Their first collision.

Today was their last meeting before their final project presentation and Sakuno was already running late. if she could've just remembered the right way to the library, she could've gotten there much earlier. It was unfortunate but nineteen years of existence didn't cure Sakuno Ryuzaki's directionally-challenged self. Thankfully, her clumsy personality had lessened considerably. Well, she assumed.

As soon as she thought that, she turned in a corner and painfully collided into something–or someone. Her books and pens scattered on the floor as she landed ungracefully with a wince. Muttering an apology, she started picking up her things.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention," the person she bumped into said.

"It's okay, I was in a hurry so I didn't see you," she replied.

Once all her things were gathered, a hand came into her line of sight and she took it without much thought. The man–Sakuno assumed because the voice sounded masculine–helped her stand up and that was the first time she managed to gaze at his full image.

"I'm Kei Yamamura. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."

"It's alright. As I said, I'm also at fault. I'm Sakuno Ryuzaki."

The man, Yamamura-san, smiled at her and they shook each other's hands. She had to admit, he was handsome, but Sakuno had spent her time surrounded by so many good-looking men that he just seemed average compared to the men she met through tennis.

"I still feel awful. I'm new here so I'm still unfamiliar with the buildings," he said. Sakuno's mouth formed an 'o' as she nodded in understanding.

"You transfer today?" she asked.

"No, yesterday. I'm looking for the library. Maybe you can point it out to me," he said, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed his nape.

"Umm, I'm actually going there," she muttered. Yamamura-san's eyes lit up.

"Really? Then let's go together."

Sakuno opened her mouth to agree but remembered that she was also lost. Now how was she going to tell him this? 'Oh no, this is so embarrassing!' Wishing for the earth to open underneath her and devour her whole.

"U-umm…" she hesitated and her eyes darted around before landing on the sign just beside them.

"Library…" she whispered in bewilderment as she pointed at the huge sign on the door to their left. Yamamura-san shifted his head to follow her finger and mumbled, "oh…"

They gazed at each other for a total of three seconds before they started laughing. After they exchanged another comical apology, went inside the library, and went their separate ways. Or so she thought.

As if fate wanted to play matchmaker on them, they met again in Sakuno's next class and the class after. It was then that they developed an odd kind of friendship and started interacting and meeting more frequently.

They went to the library together, ate in the garden, watched the Twilight Saga in the theater and a few other outings with Sakuno's best friends and old Seigaku's regulars. It was a harmless friendship for her. Tomo-chan and An-chan thought otherwise, but she ignored them and insisted that they were just friends.

She vowed to herself that she would never fall in love again because she didn't want to experience another heartbreak. She probably wouldn't be able to survive a second time. Once was enough. She was wrong though.

Sakuno realized from the start that Kei Yamamura and Ryoma Echizen were two different individuals. But every time Kei did something Ryoma wouldn't, she was surprised.

One of their most glaring differences was Kei talks a lot while Ryoma preferred to be silent. Kei was careful with his words and always kind to everyone unlike Ryoma who blurted his thoughts as short and blunt as he could. Kei gave her soft smiles, Ryoma smirked mockingly. Kei would give way to others while Ryoma would take whatever he wanted for himself.

Ryoma taught her tennis, and the joy and agony of loving someone for the first time, but he broke her heart. She fell in love at first sight and loved him for so long, yet, it led to a tragic end.

Sakuno was afraid to experience it again, but Yamamura Kei appeared in her life. He taught her how to love again and how to be loved back. Kei taught her that love wasn't just a give and give relationship but a give and take.

She was finally opening herself again. Someone had helped her out of her shell to welcome love for a second time around, and he wasn't Ryoma Echizen. He was Kei Yamamura. For a long time, she believed that Kei would be the one for her. She thought she could completely erase Ryoma Echizen's traces in her heart. She thought that Kei was the one for her.

He was everything Ryoma was not. Kei was considerate, kind, and friendly. She enjoyed his company and they got along well. With Kei, she felt comfortable to be herself. So she took a gamble and accepted him into her life.

Their relationship was actually refreshing, considering this was Sakuno's first romantic relationship. Not much conflict because she was always understanding, and in return, Kei was sweet. He never forgot their anniversary, celebrated every birthday, and always made their time together special.

Kei's family was very influential, so when his family found out about Sakuno, they were ecstatic. His family immediately accepted her, and she was happy– for a while. She was finally able to experience the joy of loving someone again, of giving him almost everything to express how much he meant to her without being afraid of rejection. A year into their relationship, Sakuno was finally content. They were happy together, or so she thought.

Four years later, here she was, now twenty-three years old, standing behind the topiary and trees in front of a hotel, stalking her fiance as he walked with a sexy, beautiful woman beside him. His arms were wrapped around the woman's waist, and they were laughing and kissing as they walked. Sakuno's world shook as she felt her heart being torn apart into tiny little pieces.

She had accidentally seen them at a coffee shop on her way to Tokyo after she visited her grandmother in Hokkaido. The place was far away from the usual places Sakuno went and it was only by chance that she stumbled on them.

This was planned, to avoid any confrontation with her. Sakuno was beyond shocked at seeing her fiancé laughing with another woman and they were touching each other's hands while exchanging intense looks. She tried her best to deny everything she saw. She made excuses.

'Maybe I'm assuming things and they were just colleagues.'

With shaking hands, she immediately called Kei and asked where he was. Practically begging to the gods that 'It's not what it looks like. He isn't cheating on me.' But then, he answered.

"I'm with Tony today, just hanging out."

'Tony, his male best friend, but that isn't Tony. Tony's a man, that's– that's a w-woman, Kei,' Her chest constricted, and she started losing oxygen. Sakuno could only reply a quiet, "oh" as she listened to his farewell and fake 'I love you's'.

Her eyes followed Kei's every movement as he put the phone back in his pocket and returned his attention back to the woman in front of him. He smiled so sweetly at her, and Sakuno watched as he reached out and touched the woman's hand that was placed on the table. The woman smiled back at him oh so sweetly.

Sakuno didn't know how she did it, how she remained standing as she watched them. How she could continue to look at them. To continue seeing Kei with another woman as her whole being slowly crumbled into dust. She wanted to just leave and get away from the sight, to run away from reality, but her feet wouldn't let her. It was as if her feet had a mind of their own. It was as if someone was telling her to follow them and get some evidence.

So she followed them after they left the cafe hand in hand, even though she felt as if her heart was about to explode and she was on the verge of unconsciousness. She pushed herself to walk and take pictures–'I can't call off the wedding without proof. It's to show his family that I'm not the one at fault. It's to protect myself from other people's assumptions. It's to have something to remind myself that what I saw wasn't just a simple nightmare.'

Sakuno hid as her eyes continued to trail them until she saw their final destination.

'Starlight Hotel.'

"H-how long...how long were you fooling me, Kei-kun?" she couldn't help but blurt out as she felt her whole body go numb.

Sakuno stood there like a statue, watching while her fiance and his woman took their time flirting while they walked towards the hotel's entrance. 'A hotel. A private room for themselves. For them to...completely enjoy each other.'

Her mind felt like it was malfunctioning. Sakuno was in a daze; she felt as if her soul just left her body to rot. She didn't know what to do now. Her mind was becoming blank, and she was on the verge of a total breakdown.

That was the exact moment that she bumped into him.

She didn't notice him at all. Her eyes were too focused on her fiance, and he was too focused on running away from his fangirls to see her walking like a corpse. Their collision was so hard that they simultaneously fell on the ground.

It was as if her whole body went into shock that she didn't even bother immediately standing up. She slowly grabbed her fallen eyeglasses and put them back on her face, but her eyes stayed on the ground, completely defeated.

"I'm sorry." His deep baritone voice seemed to echo amidst her chaotic mind, and Sakuno slowly looked up with the tears in her eyes that she had been suppressing since she saw her fiance leave the cafe. Because she knew that voice no matter how long it had been or how it had matured since the last time she heard it. She would recognize it even in the middle of a crowded street.

Her eyes slowly traced the person on the ground; from his expensive-looking shoes, up to his clothed chest, shoulder, and then neck. Finally, dark amber eyes clashed with familiar cat-like golden irises, and Sakuno felt like laughing.

'How cruel. Is this how you punish me, fate? What did I ever do to you?' she miserably thought as she gazed at the surprised eyes of Ryoma Echizen, the Prince of Tennis and the world's most famous tennis player.

"Ryuzaki?"

It was funny how he could still remember her name when he usually forgot insignificant things that weren't related to tennis. Sakuno felt like laughing again.

She quietly stood up even as Ryoma followed her every move with his wide fierce eyes. She dusted herself off and bravely met his gaze, even though she was perfectly aware of the flowing tears on her cheeks. He was probably freaked out seeing her after so many years.

Sakuno knew Ryoma, even though it had been years. Ryoma Echizen may act tough, but he didn't like seeing tears on women, especially not in front of him. She realized after talking with the senpais, and multiple months of analyzing his actions that that was why he had turned his back on her when he rejected her all those years ago.

Sakuno understood that back then, Ryoma had tried his best to get his point across her as softly as he could even though his words hurt more than a stab of a knife. Now here he was, right in front of her again. Witnessing her crying because of a man again. Sakuno Ryuzaki, crying because she was broken once again. How utterly pathetic.

"I'm sorry Ryoma-kun, I would like to say that it's nice meeting you again after so many years but I–" she couldn't continue what she was trying to say. It was getting hard to breath.

"O-oi, why are you crying?" His voice was in a panic, and he looked as if he didn't want to be there.

Sakuno almost felt sorry for him, but she had other things to worry about. New strength was given to her upon seeing Ryoma again. She didn't know why, but the determination to get to the bottom of this was suddenly fiercer than earlier.

She had to follow them and get more solid evidence than what she currently had. She needed this. Not for her to beg Kei to forget about that woman and choose her, but to convince herself to let go and hate him. This was for her, so she wouldn't accept him in her life again even if he begged her to stay with him.

She shifted her eyes away from Ryoma and back to her soon to be ex-fiance. She saw them finally entering the hotel's door, and she almost panicked. She had to follow them now.

"Oi, Ryuzaki."

Her eyes snapped back towards Ryoma, and she was finally able to notice his signature Fila hat and the sunglasses in his hand. Before he could say anything though, she abruptly snatched the hat from his head which startled him beyond belief.

"I'm sorry Ryoma-kun, I don't have time to chat right now. Let me borrow this for a moment," she said.

"W-what! But I need–"

Again, she didn't let him finish and just grabbed the sunglasses from his hand too.

"This too."

"Oi, Ryuzaki! What do you think you're doing–"

"Shut up."

For the first time since meeting him, Sakuno snapped at him. Her voice laced with an ice-like coldness that chilled even her to the bones, but she knew the expression on her face remained as blank as a piece of paper.

Ryoma looked utterly flabbergasted. At any other time, Sakuno would have laughed at the expression he was making right now, but she didn't have enough time. Before Ryoma could protest again, she walked towards the entrance of the hotel.

"Wait, oi, Ryuzaki! What the hell do you think you're doing?! People will recognize me without my cap and–"

Again, Sakuno didn't let him finish. She craned her neck to briefly look at him.

"Use the hood of your jacket, stupid," she said coldly before she continued into the hotel.

Sakuno was too focused on catching up with Kei and his woman that it didn't even occur to her that she just called the Prince of Tennis 'stupid'. She was too focused on the task at hand to completely process Ryoma's sudden appearance in front of her after eight years of not seeing or hearing from him. Sakuno didn't even bother to look at his reaction and just simply went to the front desk and asked the female attendant for Yamamura Kei's room number.

"Ma'am, we can't–"

"I'm not in a mood to argue with you. Tell me his room number, or I'll bury you with my cheating fiance's body...alive," she coldly hissed.

Sakuno knew that she was acting so differently. She knew that she was not her usual kind and meek self, but the pain was overbearing. She felt like she would die if she didn't do something. If she didn't somehow let it out.

She was probably going crazy. Everything was a mess, and she was moving on autopilot. She just saw her boyfriend of three years, and fiancé of one, cheating on her two months before their wedding, and then, just as she saw them about to enter a hotel, she bumped into the first man that ever broke her heart. 'What is this? Mess with Sakuno day?'

Thankfully, the attendant seemed to understand the situation and immediately obliged with her demands.

"I-Is he with you, ma'am?" the attendant asked, pointing at someone behind her. She didn't need to look at the person to know who it was, and Sakuno felt like bawling.

'Why are you still here?!'

She wanted to scream at Ryoma, who was undoubtedly still following her, but she had other things to do. It was ironic since it was the other way around when they were in middle school. She took a deep breath to calm herself, briefly side-eyeing him before answering.

"I guess." She briskly turned around and went towards the elevator.

She knew that her fiancé and his woman weren't inside their room. She could probably see them entering it if she hurried. So she went inside one of the elevators with Ryoma still following her. She suppressed the urge to ask him why he was following her, and just pushed the button to the third floor.

They stood a few meters away from each other in silence until it was broken by the soft ding of the elevator. Sakuno wordlessly went out and ran towards the appropriate hallway and stopped to hide as she saw her fiance making out with his woman.

"Can't even make it inside the room, you assholes," she mumbled as she took out her phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the two.

"Ne, who are they?" Ryoma finally asked beside her. Sakuno suppressed the urge to frown at him for being nosy and remained silent instead. She pretended as if she hadn't heard him ask at all.

When the two lust-filled assholes started walking towards their appropriate door while still kissing, She captured another picture. Her tears were finally dried and her whole being was filled with too much anger, suffocating pain, and worthlessness. Sakuno felt like a useless toy thrown carelessly in the garbage can after four years.

'Am I so unlovable that no one wants to stay with me?'

Sakuno watched as her soon-to-be-ex-fiance and his woman went inside the room while hungrily eating each other's faces. She numbly walked towards the door to their room and took a picture of the whole door with the room's number, standing there for a total of five seconds. She was aware that Ryoma was still there. 'What the heck does he want? Is his hat that important to him?'

Sakuno tried her best to dismiss his presence as she walked towards the door and leaned on it. She just stood there as she took a number of deep breaths.

"Oi, are you...going to wait for them 'til they finish?" Ryoma asked, he looked uncomfortable, and somehow, Sakuno felt a sense of accomplishment. 'Hah! Suffer with me then, It's your fault for being nosy!'

"No," she finally mumbled as she started walking towards the elevators again with Ryoma following her.

They went inside, and she pushed the G button that would drop them to the parking lot. Sakuno continued to ignore the Tennis Prince and dialed a number while looking at the changing floors to the side. She waited until the other line picked up.

"Momo-senpai."

Sakuno felt Ryoma suddenly perk up beside her when she mentioned their senpai's name.

"Hello, Sakuno-chan, why did you call me? Fuji and Kikumaru-senpai are here with An and Tomoka too. I'm helping them with the wedding preparation. Where are you? We've been waiting for you since forever."

"Momo-senpai, cancel everything we planned for today, and please do me a favor." She ignored everything that Momo-senpai said. She didn't want to hear anything about the stupid wedding plans.

"What! But Sakuno–"

"Is it not possible?" she asked, cutting off any of his protests.

"I–no. What do you need, Sakuno-chan?"

"I need to borrow your car, Momo-senpai. Please meet me in the parking lot of the Starlight hotel," she said, trying her best to make her voice steady.

"Starlight hotel? What are you doing–"

"Momo-senpai."

The other line paused at the tone of her voice. It was not cold like the other times. It was broken. Full of pain and anguish.

"Sakuno-chan, what happened?"

She couldn't take it anymore. Her heart was about to explode. Her whole body was trembling and on the verge of collapsing.

There was a ding, and she robotically walked out of the elevator with her feet becoming heavier and heavier with each step.

The smell of the underground parking lot invaded her senses, but it didn't help her ease the pain. Her chest felt so tight that she just wanted to rip her heart out to stop everything from hurting. 'It's so painful. Everything felt so painful. I feel like I'm drowning.'

"Sakuno-chan?"

"Momo-senpai…" her voice cracked and the tears burst out of her eyes. They were flowing so fast, and so freely, like a waterfall while her breaths were in staccato.

"Sakuno-chan!" Momo-senpai sounded alarmed now.

"He–I...I s-saw Kei, Momo-senpai. H-he's w-with a-a w-w-woman," she was hiccuping and gasping as the sobs burst from deep within her. She didn't care if someone saw her here. She didn't care at all.

"What? Are you sure that you're not mis–"

"I saw him making out with a woman. A damn sexy woman! They were sucking each others' faces, and they weren't even inside their damn room yet! They couldn't even wait and just frenched kissed in the hallway until they got inside of their hotel room! I even filmed it! I saw them flirting at the coffee shop and on their way to the hotel, they were already exchanging kisses! How long has he been lying to me, Momo-senpai!? Why did he do this to me? What have I ever done to him?!"

Her knees gave out on her with the sunglasses falling on the ground as she sat on the cold floor of the parking lot weeping like a baby. She was screaming now and definitely in hysterics, but she just simply didn't give a damn.

"That bastard! I'll kill him! We're coming now, Sakuno-chan. Wait for us." Sakuno could hear footsteps scrabbling away and some voices talking in the background, but she was too far gone to notice who those voices belonged to.

"Momo-senpai, I-I j-just need t-to get a-away f-from h-here. P-please l-let me b-borrow y-your car," she hiccupped.

"Okay, okay. We're on our way," Momo-senpai said before the call ended.

Her breathing became heavy as she continued crying and gasping for air. She wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face as she let her tears fall freely from her eyes. She just wanted to curl up and die. She wanted everything to stop.

'Please let this be a dream, please let this be a dream. Please please please!'

Just then, she felt something soft dropped on her shoulder and Sakuno jerked her head up in surprise only to be greeted by a pair of cat-like golden eyes.

"R-Ryoma-k-kun? W-Why are you s-still h-here?" she asked, still gasping for breath. She had forgotten about him. She was consumed with too much pain and self-pity to even remember his presence there.

Ryoma quietly sat beside her before he answered. "How could I leave you here in this state?" he asked as if talking about the weather. Sakuno wanted to laugh.

'How ironic, my first heartbreak is trying to comfort me? Unbelievable.'

"Y-you don't have to p-pity me," she mumbled. She heard him sigh.

"It's not that," he said.

"T-Then what?" she asked as she sniffled.

Ryoma gave her a handkerchief before he answered her again, and she thanked him as she accepted his offer.

"We...go way back," he mumbled, not looking at her. Sakuno looked at him in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

"You're...one of my...friends," he barely whispered his last words. She knew that it probably took him a lot to admit that, and Sakuno was undoubtedly flabbergasted. "I...don't want to leave a friend in need," he mumbled, his eyes hidden under his bangs.

Her eyes widened.

She sat there gaping at him. Never in a million years, had she ever thought that Ryoma Echizen considered her a friend.

"I-I thought that...y-you don't consider me a...f-friend," she whispered.

Ryoma looked at her weirdly. "You're the only girl that I actually talked to in middle school," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh…" she dumbly replied, then she sighed. "You know, i-if you just told me that you see me as a friend then we wouldn't have d-drifted apart like total s-strangers. I would n-never have pushed my f-feelings on you. I w-would've understood. I'm f-fine being your f-friend. I would b-be happy even just k-knowing that you c-considered me a friend." She hiccupped as she wiped her tears.

Ryoma was silent for a few seconds before he answered.

"I...I didn't want to hurt a friend," he said as he finally met her eyes. Sakuno's tears continued to fall. "I knew that if I kept you around while knowing your feelings, I would just continue to hurt you without meaning to. Knowing you, you probably wouldn't even complain about it. I wanted you to move on peacefully, and continue with your life."

Sakuno exhaled. "I guess...that makes sense, and now… here I am. Still, the pathetic girl that you left behind eight years ago," she muttered as she dryly laughed.

"Not really. Your ex is the one who's pathetic," he deadpanned. Sakuno laughed much louder.

"Stupid bastard," she mumbled.

Ryoma looked at her with amusement visible in his golden eyes. "The first time I heard you curse earlier, I couldn't believe my ears," he said, smirking at her.

Sakuno chuckled before it morphed into a sad smile. "I just...couldn't help it."

'And there go the tears again.'

Sakuno tried to suppress it because she didn't want to show Ryoma her weakness, but she couldn't take the pain anymore. She wanted to tell him everything. To let him know all the feelings she had bottled up since her confession and her trials of getting through them until she was finally able to stand by herself and move on from him. All the overwhelming emotion was consuming her.

Before Sakuno knew it, she was blurting out everything to Ryoma. How hard it was for her when he suddenly disappeared after her confession. How incomplete she felt. How she just wanted to disappear and how much she blamed herself for assuming and confessing to him. How that point in her life had changed her tremendously. How she coped in her high school life until she graduated and went to university.

She told him how she met Kei. How everything started between them. Her happy moments with him as she finally allowed herself to fall in love again after closing her heart for so many years. Their most unforgettable anniversary. That time he had surprised her on her birthday.

She told Ryoma how she graduated from college and was now a painter with a lot of exhibits since graduating and that Fuji-senpai helped her a lot. She told him about the senpais. How they never left her side and how they became closer. She told him that Momo-senpai and An-chan were about to get married six months from now and that Kaido-senpai was surprisingly the first among the senpais who got married to her best friend, Tomo-chan, and how Horio had cried rivers of tears.

Sakuno told Ryoma that two months from now, she was supposed to marry the love of her life. If she hadn't seen them earlier, she would probably spend the rest of her life married to a cheating bastard. She poured her feelings out in the open, and Ryoma quietly listened to her. He didn't comment or reprimanded her for all her wrong choices, and he also didn't offer any advice. He was just there, sitting a bit closer to her, giving her warmth as if to offer his silent comfort. It was a very Ryoma thing to do. No words needed, just his presence.

As her sobs were dying down, two cars stopped near them and the senpais and her two best friends, Tomoka and An came out running towards her only to stop so abruptly that they bumped into one another at the sight of Ryoma Echizen beside her.

The senpais and her two best friends all gawked at Ryoma as if he had ten heads on his shoulders. It took them a few seconds before Momo-senpai managed to get a word out of his gaping mouth.

"E-Echizen! W-when did you get back from America! And what on Earth are you doing–"

"Senpais. Ryuzaki needs to get away from here. Let me borrow your car," Ryoma cut Momo-senpai's questions off and stood up with his hands in his pockets.

Sakuno didn't speak and pulled down the bill of Ryoma's hat to hide her tear-streaked face from her friends' view. She didn't know why she was suddenly feeling embarrassed when she just broke down on the phone with Momo-senpai but right now, Sakuno felt like hiding from the world was a great idea.

"W-what?" Momo-senpai dumbly asked with his eyes bulging out of their sockets. Before anyone could say anything though, Fuji-senpai stepped forward and handed Ryoma his car key.

"Here, take care of Sakuno-chan for us, Echizen," Fuji-senpai said.

Sakuno peaked from under the protection of Ryoma's hat when she heard Fuji-senpai's tone, and she saw his intense blue eyes staring straight at Ryoma's fierce eyes.

"You don't have to tell me," Ryoma said seriously as he grabbed her hand and gently pulled her with him. Sakuno let him as she looked down at her feet.

"Oh…" He suddenly stopped. "The bastard's in room 305. Make him pay, senpais," he coldly said. Sakuno looked up at him in surprise, and she caught the sight of her senpais' firm nods from the corner of her eyes before he continued to pull her towards the cars.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" she asked, uncertain.

Ryoma glanced at her and tightened his grip on her hand as if assuring her that everything would be fine and somehow, Sakuno felt like believing in him. It was as if she was a twelve-year-old girl again who was depending on Ryoma to save her. Like the old times.

Ryoma pointed the car key and pressed the button to find out which of the two cars were Fuji-senpai's and opened the door of the red one that blinked its light. Sakuno followed along like a puppy.

"O'chibi, update us!" Kikumaru-senpai yelled as Ryoma strapped her into the passenger's seat. He closed the door after he made sure that she was settled and nodded at Kikumaru-senpai.

Sakuno watched Ryoma as he walked around the car and opened the driver's side door. He situated himself inside the car and put on his own seatbelt. All the while, she remained quiet. She felt drained after she poured out everything to Ryoma. She just wanted to sleep and pray that the pain wouldn't haunt her nightmares. She vaguely heard Ryoma starting the car but before she knew it, she was already fast asleep.

**_End of TEASER..._ **

* * *

_**SyrinxSilenus...** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This is the second chapter for tonight. I admit I'm feeling very nervous about this chapter, I hope I get Ryoma's character or I'll just die of embarrassment for posting this.
> 
> PLEASE PLEASE READ AND GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TEASER STORY AFTER THIS CHAPTER.


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